Military alone can’t defeat Boko Haram, says Buratai

Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, says the war against Boko Haram can not be won by military might alone.

He said this during the “Security Meets Business Dialogue” organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Buratai said only 25 percent of the war falls within the ambit of the military as the rest is to be handled by the civil populace.

“We are fighting the mind. So, can the military fight the mind of the people? That is not the job of the military,” he said.

“Psychological operation is government- driven. Facility to reach the minds of the people is within the precinct of the governments. Does military have control over religious leaders that preach hate? There is lot of mundane issues that culminated to this problem.

“And unfortunately, we do not look at these little things that really matter. You see religious leaders addressing congregation violently on social media to instigate violence against other people.”

He urged Nigerians to own the military and other security agencies and support them with information to enable them win the fight against Boko Haram.

He also debunked the insinuation that there was no synergy between the security agencies in the fight against insecurity.

“It is easy to sit in our rooms and make conjectures even though we are not on the ground. In 2013 the international community issued a warning that foreigners should not go beyond Lagos. But starting in October 2015 they started coming. Can this be achieved without synergy?” he asked.

Buratai also regretted that the country failed to develop the “Ogbunigwe” that was invented by Biafra during the Nigerian civil war and lamented that Nigeria’s allies were denying the country strategic military supplies needed to combat insurgency.

He said: “We all know how the armed forces have been deprived of what it is supposed to have in terms of equipment. There was civil war in this country between 1967 and 1970. Did all our allies support Nigeria as a country? Those Nigeria relied upon for the supply of equipment disappointed her. We are experiencing the same thing with Boko Haram. Some of the arms the government has paid for since 2017 and 2018 have not been supplied. As I speak, no pin has arrived Nigeria. Will Boko Haram sleep and wait till our arm arrives? These are the issues.”

He said during the civil war, the ingenuity of the Biafrans produced the “Ogbunigwe” but Nigeria paid no attention in developing it.

He therefore, called for a detailed research and development to enable Nigeria to produce some of these equipment domestically.