A former Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman (retd.), has revealed that the Nigerian military's most significant challenge in fighting Boko Haram was countering the insurgents' sophisticated and terrifying propaganda machine.
The retired general stated that at the peak of the insurgency, the terrorist group's effective use of psychological warfare and digital media severely damaged public trust in the military's official statements. According to Brigadier General Usman, the insurgents' credibility crisis for the government was profound, especially in 2014.
He made these revelations on Saturday during a lecture at an event marking the 35th anniversary of the Federal Capital Territory chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
“We were in the middle of an information war that tested our credibility, speed, and strategic communication under pressure. Again, we fought two wars simultaneously,” Usman told the audience. “One was a physical war against insurgents on the ground and the other, an information war against their digital propaganda and global misinformation network."
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He recalled a particularly dire period when Boko Haram's threats were consistently followed by action, making their statements more believable to the average citizen than those of the authorities.
“In 2014, we had a situation where the average Nigerian did not even know whom to believe, whether the insurgents or the government," Usman noted. “And this was because, sincerely speaking, when the insurgents threatened they would do something, they always went ahead to do it. So, that was the situation I inherited.”
The former army spokesman detailed how Boko Haram, under the late Abubakar Shekau, exploited platforms like YouTube to recruit, instill fear, and shape public perception. He warned that at the time, merely mentioning “Boko Haram” or “Abubakar Shekau” openly could make one a target.
To combat this, Usman explained that the military had to completely overhaul its communication strategy, adopting a proactive doctrine focused on transparency and seizing control of the narrative to win back public confidence.
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