RE: NIGERIA - Confusion on Dateline to Defeat BOKO HARAM.

The Nigerian military remains on course to defeat the radical Islamic group Boko Haram by Abuja's self-imposed deadline of the end of the December, President Muhammadu Buhari's official spokesman told Newsweek on Thursday, despite apparent dissent by a senior military official. 

"Twenty-four hours ago, the head of the Nigerian Army, General Buratai, reaffirmed the commitment of the government to achieving the deadline," Shehu says by phone from the Nigerian capital, in reference to a speech Buratai gave in Borno on Wednesday. "That is the official government position." 

Shehu's comments come after Air Commodore Yusuf Anas of the Abuja-based Center for Crisis Communication, cited as a Nigerian government spokesman by the Associated Press, said that the Nigerian military would not be able to meet the December deadline. 

This can be supported by the fact that yesterday, which is just about a month to the so-call "Boko Haram defeat deadline", Boko Haram attack kills 18 in Niger. 

Anas broke with the government's stance on the fight against Boko Haram, warning that the deadline "may be unrealistic" and saying Nigerians should not regard December as a "sacrosanct date when all suicide bombings will end.". More on Newsweek. 

What is your stand on this issue? Do you think Boko Haram will be defeated at the end of this year which has barely five weeks more. 

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