It is true that fighting terrorism is a largely uncharted territory in our country. But it is also true that we have not availed ourselves of the opportunity to learn from the examples of other countries, especially given that the Americans have developed a counter- insurgency strategy which recommends a four-pronged approach. The strategy, according to a 2009 manual, “rests on a number of assumptions: that the decisive effort is rarely military (although security is the essential prerequisite for success); that superior knowledge, and in particular, understanding of the ‘human terrain’ is essential; and that we must have the patience to persevere in what will necessarily prove long struggles.” As the Americans have found out, insurgents require not only safe havens, illicit funding and the collaboration of a few political enablers to succeed in their evil machinations, but also “the passive acquiescence of a large proportion of the contested population” since the ultimate goal is to seize control “through a combination of persuasion, subversion and coercion while using guerrilla tactics to offset the strengths of government security forces. Their intent is usually to protract the struggle, exhaust the government and win sufficient popular support to force capitulation or political accommodation...” I am not sure the relevant authorities have taken time to study the situation in Borno and Yobe and the level of Boko Haram penetration so as to come up with an effective containment strategy that would not alienate the people. Yet when you deal with such a formidable enemy, you need to be one step ahead and that explains why counter- insurgency involves deft political negotiations, provision of economic empowerment both in the immediate and long term, robust media management and deployment of military muscle. These ingredients have been missing in the efforts to fight Boko Haram. For instance, in admitting to its mistake with regard to the media, the American manual says “there is often a weakness in the relationship with regional media in overseas insurgency situations. This can result in missed opportunities to influence key stakeholders.” For the Nigerian authorities to defeat Boko Haram, boots on the ground can only be one in a cocktail of strategies. As it would happen, that is the only approach we have adopted and even on that, we neither have sufficient number of troops nor the necessary training and tools for our soldiers to undertake this very risky assignment. We have also not factored in the international dimension with regard to our neighbours like Chad, Cameroun and Niger as aptly captured on Monday by Dr Jibrin Ibrahim (dailytrust.info/index.php/ columns/monday-columns/17968- as-the-war-intensifies). As for the political approach, all that one can see are recriminations, self- justifications, accusations, counter- accusations and even exploitation of the tragedy in furtherance of some personal agenda without any serious attempt to deal with both the cause and the effect in that section of the country where abject poverty is all too evident. Aside the fact that the reports of all the committees that have been set up on the crisis by the federal government in the last three years have ended up in some drawers, the rhetoric of members of the political and business elite from the Boko Haram axis of operation indicate that they don’t buy into the military campaign, essentially because of the collateral damage being suffered by the civil populace. Under such a cloud of distrust and mutual suspicions, the hands of Boko Haram fighters can only be strengthened. To worsen matters, the Inspector General of Police told the National Assembly on Monday that the amount voted for personnel cost in the 2014 budget is not even enough to pay the salaries and allowances of his men who ordinarily should complement military efforts in fighting the insurgency. On the economic plane, the institutional failings in the northeast are all glaring though we should lay the responsibility also at the door of the states concerned because questions should be asked about where their monthly allocations go. But the federal government bears a greater responsibility. As for the media, there is little or no appreciation of the fact that efforts to defeat Boko Haram can never succeed without a deft information management strategy that would require the collaboration and support of critical stakeholders in that sector. All said, I am still optimistic that we can win this war because where there is a will, as the saying goes, there is always a way. But until we muster that national will, there will be no solution. For the sake of our people in the northeastern part of the country who are now practically at the mercy of Boko Haram, it is time to rise up against those who seem determined to kill our collective peace and to circumscribe the future of our children. - The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi; olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 23:19:04 +0000
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