If military strategy to contain Boko Haram has failed, what about Psychological Operations? The return of female suicide bombers to the streets of Maiduguri is definite proof that anger from the children and close relatives of those killed extra-judicially by our security operatives, especially the Police, still runs deep. The Federal Ministry of Information in conjunction with the relevant departments of the Armed Forces must start an immediate five-year re-orientation (psy-ops/propaganda) programme aimed at the vulnerable among the people of the North-East. A good number of these people are boiling for revenge against the state, due to how how virulent Boko Haram evolved - extra-judicial killings by the Police of arrested members, especially innocent family members of suspects. Boko Haram and its sympathisers already have enough propaganda materials to keep on producing suicide bombers for the next 10 years if this conflict continues. Even if the Boko Haram war stops tomorrow, Nigeria needs this re-orientation (psy-ops/propaganda) programme to get hundreds of North-Easterners off the wrong train of extremist Islam. And it is the primary responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Information to achieve that. But the ministry will need specially trained personnel in the Army, Navy, Airforce and SSS to achieve that.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 07:13:45 +0000
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