Retired Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff has stated that military action alone can’t tackle security challenges in the country.
Buratai, a non-career ambassadorial designate said this, when he appeared before Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening on Thursday, February 18, in Abuja.
“This security challenge is something that started more than 30, or 40 years ago.
“It had penetrated the communities, the terrorists have won the communities to their side; that is why you see a small hamlet keeping Boko Haram in those locations, so it is a complex issue.
“So it requires the whole government approach to deal with this.
“The military action is just one aspect; and this is one mistake we have been making that it is only the military that is seen to solve the issue of the security challenge,” he said.
Buratai said political, economic, and social factors were responsible for fuelling the security challenge over the years; adding that those factors must be addressed.
“Development should be progressive. There should be roads everywhere; employment; schools; as well as hospitals.
“There are so many ungovernable spaces until those spaces, locations are penetrated with roads infrastructure, rail, school; and we carry everybody along; and robust foreign and diplomatic policies pursued and also sustained to solve issues of insecurity,” he said.
