By Olayemi Esan
Retired Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, mni, the immediate past Director of Defence Information, Armed Forces of Nigeria, has strongly endorsed the recent call by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede, for residents of Borno and Yobe states to take ownership of the ongoing fight against insurgency in the Northeast.
Speaking in reaction to the CDS’ remarks during his recent operational visit to Maiduguri alongside the Service Chiefs, Brig Gen Gusau said General Oluyede’s appeal was timely, strategic, and rooted in deep operational experience.
According to him, the CDS’ call came shortly after the multiple explosions in Maiduguri suspected to have been carried out by insurgents, during which the military high command used the opportunity to engage the media and urge the people of Borno and Yobe—the epicentre of the insurgency—to strengthen cooperation with security forces.
Brig Gen Gusau said the message from the CDS was clear: the counterinsurgency war is not for the military alone, but a collective national responsibility requiring active support from the affected communities.
“What the CDS said is very apt and that is what we expect the residents of these two states to immediately take ownership of this problem we have been facing,” he said.
He noted that General Oluyede was speaking from first-hand knowledge, having previously served as a commander and brigade commander in both Borno and Yobe states during the course of the insurgency.
“The CDS didn’t say this from the blues. He served in both Borno and Yobe, so he knows what he is saying. He is speaking from experience as someone who operated in that location as a brigadier commander in the Nigerian Army,” Gusau stated.
The retired senior officer stressed that communities in Borno, Yobe, and across the Northeast must rise to the challenge by embracing both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in tackling insurgency.
Citing a practical example, Brig Gen Gusau recalled an initiative undertaken by the current Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, during his tenure as Theatre Commander in the Northeast, when he facilitated contact between mothers and their sons who had joined insurgent groups in the bush.
According to Gusau, the emotional intervention proved effective.
“There was a time he had to look for the mothers of those terrorists and give them phones to speak with their sons in the bush. Immediately they heard the voices of their mothers, they started crying,” he recounted.
He said the outreach led to some insurgents renouncing violence, surrendering to troops, and being processed through the Federal Government’s de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programme, Operation Safe Corridor.
“Based on that, some of them renounced their ideas, surrendered, returned home, and were sent through Operation Safe Corridor. Today, we can say they are useful citizens of this country because they have renounced their ideology and the violence they had been perpetuating,” he added.
Brig Gen Gusau argued that while the military has recorded gains on the battlefield, the non-kinetic dimension of the campaign remains crucial to achieving lasting peace.
“The kinetic aspect may not be able to solve all the problems. We have to really look along the non-kinetic aspect of the operation so that this issue will be addressed once and for all,” he said.
He described family and community engagement as a critical component of the “whole-of-society approach” often advocated in counterinsurgency operations, insisting that relatives and local communities know many of those involved in insurgent activities and can play a decisive role in persuading them to surrender.
“If each and every family would take it upon themselves to get across to their sons who are in the bush, I’m telling you, we will see a total reduction of this issue,” Gusau said.
He maintained that there is a clear pathway to ending the insurgency if all stakeholders—families, communities, traditional institutions, and security agencies—begin to act in a coordinated and deliberate manner.
“Of course, there is a way forward. The most important thing is let’s start doing something. Once we start doing something, definitely we’ll get to the end of the tunnel. I assure you there will be a light at the end of that tunnel,” he said.
The remarks add weight to the Defence Headquarters’ renewed emphasis on community partnership and non-kinetic strategies as essential pillars in complementing military operations aimed at restoring lasting peace in Nigeria’s Northeast.
