From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mohammed Bulama, Wednesday said but for the resilience and commitment of the military, Borno State would have been completely taken over by Boko Haram terrorists group.
Bulama, who was the commissioner of information in the height of insurgency when terrorists invaded the state, said the military fought with the last drop of their blood to liberate Borno from the terrorists whose sole agenda was to take over the state at all cost.
The DG, who made this known at the opening of the maiden Defence Headquarters Psychological Operations Workshop 2025 in Abuja, commended officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces for their determination in not only liberating Borno State but protecting the nation’s territorial integrity and keeping the country one and united.
Bukama expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Nigerian Armed Forces, who he said have done tremendously well despite limited resources.
“I would not be far from the truth if I said that but for the efforts of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there would have been no entity called Borno State, at least certainly not, there wouldn’t be Maiduguri. We would have been overrun.”
On the theme, “Defence Headquarters influence operations Optimizing psychological operations for efficiency within a joint environment,” the FRCN boss, while noting the importance of psychological operations in addressing security challenges, maintained that the theatre of warfare is the mind and called for non-kinetic approaches.
He listed three key roles psychological operations can play to overcome insurgency and other security challenges to include counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation, winning hearts and minds in conflict zones and crisis communication and misinformation management.
While calling on members of the Armed Forces to redouble their efforts in finding timely solutions to security challenges, Bukama said “Nigerians are no longer patient to endure further killings in the country.
“We must, therefore, find timely but workable solutions that convince Nigerians that the federal government is indeed doing everything possible to meet up with its primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of law-abiding citizens.”