Changing unsuccessful five-year military approach, Nigeria’s decision to use ‘soft power’ to tack Boko Haram insurgency has won plaudits, seen as recognition that military alone would not end the bloodshed.

“I think the administration has really woken up to the fact that they have lost credibility and trust in communicating,” Elizabeth Donnelly, from the Chatham House foreign affairs think-tank in London told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Thursday, March 20.

On Tuesday, National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki unveiled the new measures in a rare public announcement, referring to past mistake and announcing a more joined-up approach to tackle the crisis.
Dasuki's “soft power” plan includes “de-radicalization” programs for suspected and convicted Boko Haram fighters as well as closer co-operation with communities most affected by the deadly violence.

In his speech, Dasuki acknowledged that the militants had been more effective in conveying their message, promising a new change.

“We... have realized that those tasked with the responsibility to protect can no longer function within a framework of the past,” he said on Tuesday in Abuja.

He also drew parallels with the overhaul of the US national security apparatus after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington that were in part blamed on intelligence failures.

Nigeria's new National Counter-Terrorism Strategy had been 18 months in the making, he said, and was drawn up after consulting other countries with experience of a “war on terror”.

“Nigeria is taking this important but difficult and slow path. But we are making progress,” he added.

The strategy also includes addressing economic and social deprivation in the north, which have been pinpointed as factors in recruiting disaffected young men to radical ideologies worldwide.

“My approach has been to understand the problem in order to apply the appropriate solutions,” Dasuki added.

Central to this would be an “economic revitalization program” in the six northern states most hit by extremist violence, involving state and federal agencies, he said.

Self Critical

The new approach was praised as being self-critical, showing efforts to make changes in the current strategy of national security authorities.

Defense and security analysts have long argued that the government needed to tackle the root causes of the problem, rather than only fighting fire with fire.

“It [Dasuki's speech] is very interesting as it's a much more nuanced, holistic approach to the crisis...,” Donnelly said.

“It's quite self-critical in parts but his office is clearly making an effort to address key points of criticism.”

For analysts, successful implementation of the program was the next step but Donnelly said the policy was “what international partners (of Nigeria) will have been waiting to hear”.

Virginia Comolli, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, also said the approach was long overdue.

“It's very, very likely that there's an apparent realisation within the administration that more needs to be done,” she said.

“What's good is that various elements within the Nigerian government have actually spoken to their counterparts in the UK, the US, Australia, Indonesia and various countries around the world to see what has worked.”

Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning “Western education is sinful”, is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban.

The militant group says it is fighting enemies who have wronged its members through violence, arrests or economic neglect and corruption.

It has been blamed for a campaign of shootings and bombings against security forces and authorities in the north since 2009.

Recently, deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram have intensified since the turn of the year.

More than 700 people have died in the restive northeast, while tens of thousands more have fled for their lives, either in fear of further attacks or after militants razed their homes and businesses.