President
Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, said that politics was the root cause of Boko Haram
activities in the country, noting that the military alone cannot end the
insurgency.
Buhari said
successful counter-insurgency operations required what he called “unity of
efforts across ministries, departments and agencies covering political,
economic, law enforcement, intelligence and, of course, the military.”
The
President, who spoke in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the maiden
Nigerian Air Force International Air Power Seminar, with the theme ‘Air Power
in Irregular Warfare: A Framework for Understanding and Responding’, however,
stated that his vision was to build a stable and prosperous Nigeria.
He said:
“Successful counter-insurgency operations would, therefore, require unity of
efforts across multiple ministries, departments and agencies covering
political, economic, law enforcement, intelligence and of course the military,
in what is popularly called ‘whole of the nation approach’.
“In this
regard, we have mobilised relevant agencies and international organisations to
support the counter-insurgency efforts to ensure success.”
Continuing,
he said: “It is common knowledge that though we require substantial military
input in combating an insurgency, its root cause is inherently political in
nature.
“This
seminar is quite timely, in the sense that since the outbreak of the Boko Haram
crisis in the North-East, the Nigerian Air Force and, indeed, the armed forces
of Nigeria have been engaged in conducting counter-insurgency operations that
have challenged the services’ doctrine, tactics, training, order of battle and
force protection architecture.
“Seminars
like this are, thus, necessary for armed forces like the Nigerian Air Force to
draw from the experiences of other armed forces that have either previously or
are currently engaged in counter-insurgency operations.”
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