18th June, 2015
Femi Adi/ Kaduna
Former Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade today said the military alone could not win the war against the Boko Haram terrorists.
He said the war could only be won with the support of the political class, businessmen and all citizens.
The former Defence Chief, who spoke at a seminar organized by the Gusau institute in Kaduna, North West Nigeria pointed out that for Nigeria to defeat the insurgents from the north east, every citizen must assist the military in one form or another through information sharing and intelligence gathering.
His submission came on the heels of the relocation of the military command to Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to combat the insurgency, headlong.
General Akinrinade chaired the seminar today on Africa’s big Five, titled, Power and Influence in Africa, organised by Gusau Institute, which was founded in 2013 by Lt. General Aliyu Gusau.
Though Akinrinade did not proffer solution to the insurgency, he called on the management of Gusau institute to direct its expertise in security issues towards finding lasting solution to Boko Haram.
Akinrinade said he has heard a lot of theories about Boko Haram from many people , but could not still fathom the causes of Boko Haram.
He also said he was not aware of any military doctrine that has been put down that has addressed effectively guerrilla warfare.