Renowned northern leader and the Convener, Coalition of Northern Leaders, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen (CNLAPB), Junaid Mohammed, has described the promise of the new Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, that he will flush out Boko Haram from the north within four months as unrealistic.According to Mohammed, an ex-lawmaker, going by the history of the outlawed sect, the military might not be able to end their activities within the next five months as promised by the new CDS.He told Punch that the first task of the new Service Chief should be to restore unity in the army, which, he claimed, had become divided under the former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika.He said, “I think the statement that Boko Haram insurgency will end by April is rash. But I don’t want to be too harsh because I don’t know the man (Badeh). If Ihejirika had made that statement, I would have said it was an irresponsible statement. The new Chief of Defence staff is not known to me and I haven’t heard of his management style. But I think it is a rash statement.“Most military historians believe that when you confront an insurgency such as the Boko Haram one and terrorism in the North-East, you have to calculate at least 10 years within which to put it under control. I expect the Boko Haram insurgency to last another five years before they can bring it to an end.”Mohammed added that it would take only a united military to handle Boko Haram, advising Badeh to do his job discreetly.“Ihejirika and others had made such promises and up till now, they have not been able to control Boko Haram. When you give a deadline and you fail to achieve it, the responsible thing to do is to keep quiet,” he said.
