Rotimi Olajide Opeyeoluwa Department of International Relations and Diplomacy,
Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Email: ropeyeoluwa@abuad.edu.ng/rotbaba@gmail.com +234−8092222016
&
Agnes Lifu Imaji
Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Abstract
This study is on the role of Airpower in Nigeria‘s Counterinsurgency Operations in the fight against Boko Haram in the Northeast of Nigeria. The study realized that the Nigerian military for over a decade has been in constant battle against Boko Haram insurgents in the region to degrade and eventually defeat the insurgents, thus the introduction of Airpower into the dynamics. The objective of airpower in counterinsurgency operations was reviewed in this research, with a specific focus on the Nigerian Air Force‘s response to the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east. The study adopted both primary and secondary data sources; the objectives focus on interrogating the issues concerning the role and the use of Airpower, the challenges faced and the successes recorded in maintaining national, sub-regional and regional security. The theory used Weak State Theory. The qualitative method was chosen for this research through the use of primary and secondary sources. The primary source used is structured interviews. The paper recommended that, for the Nigerian Air Force to be more effective in the counterinsurgency operations in the northeast, there is a need for increased funding for the purchase of more modern platforms and weaponry that are adaptable to modern airpower considerations in the fight against the raging inferno ignited by Boko Haram elements in the North East.
Keywords: Airpower, Boko Haram, Counterinsurgency, Operations, North East.
Introduction There are varying opinions on the outcome of the Cold War however the end of the Cold War generated optimism such that some scholars described it as the age that would end all wars and usher in a stable international order (Yilmanz, 2008; Fukuyama, 1992). Their assurances were reinforced by……