After reading various social media posts praising Chadian President Idriss Deby's gallantry in overrunning Boko Haram's armoury, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Major General Olusegun Adeniyi. Until recently, he was the commander of Operation Lafiya Dole. I imagined a sleep-deprived General Adeniyi.
I have never met Adeniyi. I heard his name after Boko Haram ambushed his convoy in Jakana. War does not grant generals time to take a break. And as any Nigerian who has ever had an encounter with a Nigerian soldier knows, General Adeniyi must have returned to the battlefield determined to give the insurgents a bloody nose. He was disappointed not because his troops were cowardly, but by a combination of bad terrain and poor kitting.
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