IT has been disclosed that any country that does not ensure development for the people will have security challenges and should therefore not rely on the military means only to resolve such security challenges.
This was revealed Friday at the Modibbo Adama University (MAU) Yola by former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Burutai (Rtd) who was the convocation lecturer for the combined convocation ceremony of the University.
His lecture was ‘the Nigeria front in the war against terror: Security or Development’ Who says we must address the root causes that conduce to radicalization into violent extremism.
According to Burutai who is now Nigerias Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, added that security must be anchored on a strategy that recognizes the security and development nexus as central to counter insurgency and counter terrorism in Nigeria.
“The Quest for security must go with development”, he emphasized.”
In the case of the North East, according to the Former Army Chief, any country that does not ensure development for the people will have security challenges.
He therefore adds, “we should not rely on the military means only to resolve our security challenges instead, we must address the ideological, economic, social and political factors”.
The Boko Haram insurgency is a multifaceted phenomenon rooted in socio-economic, political and ideological factors which are manipulated by religious extremists.
In the last ten years he added, the group has evolved, transformed and continuously adapted itself to changing military dynamics and situations.
But he says, “we have undoubtedly degraded Boko Haram Terrorists, taken back all territories they used to control and kept them running and on the back foot”.
Lamentably be observed, as with all terrorist situations, they attack defenseless soft targets to instil fear into the lager population and create a false sense of widespread insecurity.
“This gives them a lot of publicity even in the mainstream media, which they crave, “he added.
Messaging says the Army Officer, is a key component of any effective operations more so the negative message of Boko Haram would not have gained traction if it had been countered before it became violent.
