Former Army Commandant Warns Nigerians to Prepare for War

A former Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Brig.-Gen. Williams Obene (retd.), on Wednesday advised Nigerians to prepare for war, saying the Boko Haram insurgency would likely last another 10 years, despite foreign intervention.

Obene, who pioneered the Nigerian Army Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency Centre, said  that the recent bomb attacks in Kano and Jos were signs of asymmetrical warfare such as insurgency.

According to him, it’s unrealistic to expect security forces to bring Boko Haram insurgency to an end within the next six months earmarked for the extended state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
He said, “The attacks on Kano and Jos did not come to me as surprises. In asymmetrical warfare, such as we are faced with, these things are to be expected. Nigerians need to come to terms with the fact that we are at war and it is not a conventional war, where the enemy can be identified.

“Let’s not delude ourselves to think that we are going to use the military to stop the insurgency in six months.

“The Senators have said they would monitor the state of emergency in the North-East on a monthly basis, and would call it off if they don’t see improvement. My question is: what is the alternative to the state of emergency? In fact, we should declare total war. Nigerians should prepare for war.”

Obene predicted that Boko Haram would eventually infiltrate every part of the country and would be able to carry out attacks in any state.

He urged Nigerians, irrespective of what part of the country they reside, to be vigilant and ready for war.
“Politicians should stop deceiving Nigerians that this insurgency can stop in six months. This thing has come to stay with us for a long time. It took some other countries several years to deal with insurgency.

“Ours might last up to 10 years, or even more because of the involvement of politicians,” he said.

---

Posted: at 22-05-2014 09:55 AM (9 years ago) | Addicted Hero

Pls stop dis bombing ,Boko and bring back our girls

Posted: at 22-05-2014 10:35 AM (9 years ago) | Hero

U see d kind of leaders we have. Hmmmmmm may we not resort to war instead let every region go their seperate ways.

Posted: at 22-05-2014 10:57 AM (9 years ago) | Addicted Hero

naija o

Posted: at 22-05-2014 11:04 AM (9 years ago) | Gistmaniac

God help us

Posted: at 22-05-2014 11:09 AM (9 years ago) | Upcoming

Am ready in biafra land we are prepated for this

Posted: at 22-05-2014 11:31 AM (9 years ago) | Upcoming

I second this!

Posted: at 22-05-2014 11:50 AM (9 years ago) | Gistmaniac

They said Saddam was the
problem and that Iraqis
deserved a better life. They
invaded Iraq, killed
Saddam and after so many
years Iraq is still in a
mess with suicide bombing
very common. Yet, under
Saddam there were no suicide
bombings in Iraq.
They said Ghaddafi was the
problem and that
Libyans deserved a better life.
They invaded Libya,
had Ghaddafi killed and after
so many years Libya is
still in a mess with suicide
bombing very common. As
at today, countries are shutting
down their
embassies in Libya. Yet, under
Ghaddafi there were
no suicide bombings in Libya.
So, when next you
hear phrases like 'President A
has lost the credibility
to lead' and 'His people
deserve a better life'
remember that they simply
destroyed the countries
they intervened in.If you don't
learn from other
peoples mistakes you may end
up making a mistake
with its attendant
consequences that other
people
may learn from. If our security
problem has
degenerated to US coming to
help us, then we're
really in a sorry state. Tell me
any country US has
helped in solving their internal
security problem
that has ever experienced
peace after US
intervention. Truth must be
told, the presence US
in Nigeria portents danger.
How are we even sure
they aint the ones sponsoring
and supplying arms to
boko haram.

Posted: at 22-05-2014 12:05 PM (9 years ago) | Upcoming

yes saddam is still the problem of iraq, he was killed and he's associate is still alive, saddam hussein associate are still living and would do any thing to hold on to power so that they would not lose all the wealth they acquired through illegal ways. saddam associate would not mind instigating unrest in iraq to sabotage democracy. same to gadaffi his children and associate still have alot of money to cause problem or do you think is easy to uproot gadaffi and his family influence out of  lybia politics who once thought the country belong to them as if it was there birth right. is a matter of time peace will be restored in those country. education is the way.

Posted: at 22-05-2014 12:46 PM (9 years ago) | Upcoming

Nigeria is finishd. Dis is not prayer issue, dis has gone beyond prayers. The only prayer one can make now is for the protectn of one's family 4rm this evil threatening our existence. Kill them b4 they kill u!

Posted: at 22-05-2014 01:01 PM (9 years ago) | Gistmaniac