Maybe it is time to adopt a Nigerian piecemeal developmental approach with the federal government targeting component parts of the federation bit by bit. Let them start with a Lake Chad security plan that looks like this

Ayo Akinfe

[1] An unprecedented Blitzkreig operation should be unleashed to recapture those parts of Borno State still not under government control . A pincer movement should be launched in conjunction with the Chadian army to recover the entire area

[2] Nigeria should then expand the Lake Chad Basin Force into a fully fledged Ecomog Army of about 20,000 men

[3] Borno and Yobe states should each get a mechanised division of the Nigerian Army of 10,000 troops

[4] The Nigerian Navy should also establish a Lake Chad Naval Command fully equipped with speed boats, amphibious troops and heavy guns

[5] Then the federal government should create a dedicated anti-terrorist Nigerian Air Force unit with its base in Borno State

[6] Nigeria’s military fighting in the northeast should be decentralised with each division having its own independent air, naval and infantry capacity

[7] Nigeria should launch a special commando unit of at least battalion strength, equipped up to the competence levels of say the US Seals, the British SAS or the French Commandoes

[8] Nigeria then has to start manufacturing her our own military hardware. It is naive to think that we will get the equipment we want, when we want it, in the quantities we desire and at the prices we want on the open market

[9] Then, the government needs to launch a massive hearts and minds campaign in the northeast, dropping leaflets in every village. Ordinary people need to know they are safe if they offer the Nigerian military intelligence and information

[10] Local people should then be trained on how to resist the terrorists. They for instance will be trained on acts of sabotage like blowing up bridges, poisoning wells, blocking roads, adulterating their petrol etc, kind of similar to they way partisans were during World War Two

ayoakinfe@gmail.com