AFRICA Nigeria: Borno Governor Urges Change in Strategy against Boko Haram OE Watch Commentary: Borno governor Babagana Zulum has shown increased interest in curbing the Boko Haram insurgency, given that his state has been hardest hit by the group’s violence. The excerpted article for The Nigerian Voice mentions an attack in Auno, near the state capital Maiduguri, which led to the deaths of 30 people and destroyed 18 vehicles, prompting Zulum to criticize Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari’s approach to addressing Boko Haram. Zulum called on Buhari to return the military to its strategy from 2016 and 2017 when Nigerian soldiers brought the battle to Boko Haram in its enclaves and camps, especially around Lake Chad and in Sambisa Forest. At the same time, Zulum commended Buhari because Borno’s situation is still more secure now than it was when Buhari came into office in 2015. At that time, 20 of Borno’s 27 local government areas were under Boko Haram’s control. In fact, Zulum lauded Buhari, including commending him for empathizing with the people of Borno. Buhari, for his part, committed to ending the insurgency during his visit to Borno as well as to fighting corruption and promoting economic recovery. The article indicates that despite Zulum’s discontent with the current security situation in Borno, both Zulum and Buhari remain publicly cordial ties, recognize that Boko Haram’s violence has been curtailed, but not ended, and are willing to take measures to further eliminate the threat from Boko Haram. Whether their ambitions will be achieved, however, remains to be seen in the next phase of the counter-insurgency effort. End OE Watch Commentary (Zenn) Statue of President Muhammadu Buhari. Source: FaridhaSL via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_President_Muhammadu_ Buhari.jpg, CC BY 4.0 “We need to keep taking the war to enclaves of the insurgents in the fringes of the Lake Chad, in Sambisa forest and some notable areas.” Source: “Zulum to Buhari: Let’s Change our Strategies against Boko Haram,” The Nigerian Voice, 12 February 2020. https://www. thenigerianvoice.com/news/285188/zulum-to-buhari-lets-change-our-strategies-against-boko-ha.html Borno Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has said there was need for change of strategies in the ongoing fight against boko haram. The Governor, who however acknowledged successes recorded by the same military in the state, spoke in presence of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Shehu of Borno’s palace in Maiduguri. Buhari was in the state on sympathy visit following Boko Haram attacks in Auno which left 30 persons killed with 18 vehicles and houses burnt. “We are calling upon the Nigerian military to change strategies and we can borrow a leaf from the success our military was able to hugely record in the years 2016 and 2017 with a view to ending the insurgency. We need to keep taking the war to enclaves of the insurgents in the fringes of the Lake Chad, in Sambisa forest and some notable areas” Zulum said. Governor Zulum however commended the President for his commitment to ending the insurgency. The Governor although he could not ignore the current unfortunate situation, said the people of Borno state still remember the days before Buhari’s emergence, when 20 out of the 27 local government areas in the state were in the hands of Boko Haram. OE Watch | April 2020 61.