The deployment has not however, stopped the bombings and in some cases have increased resentment in the local community where these soldiers are located. Security agencies however, claim their efforts have reduced the bombings. The bigger question though, is how sustainable is the current drop in bombings without the massive booths on the ground?
Only this week, the media reported of an acceptance by the Boko Haram sect of a ceasefire. The challenge with such a claim however, is that it cannot be verified since the sect has no known face to dialogue with.
It is not just Boko Haram
While the government is focused on tackling the Boko Haram challenges because it is in the front burner in the media, it is clear that Nigeria’s security challenges go well beyond Boko Haram. For example, a new group that calls itself Ansar Dine has started claiming responsibility for recent attacks in the North. This may indicate that even if government reaches ceasefire with Boko Haram, there may be an Ansar Dine to deal with …show more content…
Though the official unemployment rate is 23.9 percent, some economists say it could be as high as 50 percent of the workforce. The high unemployment rate is fuelling poverty level which is as high as 60 percent in some states in the North, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows.
The second challenge in tackling Nigeria’s insecurity is a weak and poorly trained security agency. Data from BusinessDay Research shows that the Nigerian police spend an average of 94 percent of its budget on paying its personnel. The Army and Navy spend an average of 76 percent of their budgets on personnel cost. This leaves the security agencies with little or no budget to get the sophisticated weapons and training to fight insurgency especially when such insurgency is funded by crude oil theft or foreign interest with deep