00:05For more than a decade, Nigeria's northeast has grappled with severe insecurity,
00:10largely driven by a protracted insurgency by Boko Haram and its splinter faction Islamic State West African province.
00:17The conflict has claimed thousands of lives, destroyed communities and livelihoods, and displaced millions of residents.
00:25For John Ali, a native of Gurza local government area in the Boko Haram heartland of Borno State,
00:32the insurgency has altered the course of his life.
00:36A father of 11, he looks forward to the end of the insurgency so he can go back to his
00:42ancestral home and hopefully resume his normal life.
00:46He's cautiously optimistic the military cooperation between Nigeria and the United States can help him do that.
00:52Because we have already suffered here a lot, our people are discarded from different locations.
01:02Others are at Cameroon, others within Nigeria, we have five states that our people are destroyed, are scattered.
01:11No way for us to go back to our destinations.
01:16For me, in person, I need this U.S. army to chip in to help our soldiers in technical training
01:25that they have it,
01:27the access of fighting they know, they have weapons, they have access in everything.
01:33So I didn't say our soldiers are not trying, but they are trying.
01:37They need support.
01:39We need the support of this U.S. government to chip in.
01:42The presence of foreign troops can often elicit a negative public reaction, no matter the severity of a crisis.
01:50Yet, the reaction here is generally positive,
01:53with many Nigerians describing the development as a welcome boost to national security.
01:59Anything that will improve the security of this country is welcome.
02:13For many observers, the deployment underscores the urgency of addressing a conflict that has persisted for over a decade,
02:22destabilizing communities, especially in the northeast, and straining military resources.
02:27But I believe with the coming of the American soldiers,
02:34I think they will boost the morale of the Nigerian soldiers.
02:39And Nigerian soldiers would beat their chest and fight along with the American soldiers.
02:48Authorities have been quick to clarify that the deployment is not a combat mission,
02:53but specifically for training purposes.
02:56Nigerian soldiers has always enjoyed a strong security partnership with the U.S.
03:00Until things cooled off late last year,
03:03when U.S. President Donald Trump alleged the government wasn't doing enough
03:07to protect Christian communities in the country.
03:09But military cooperation between Washington and Apuja has now picked up again,
03:14after a high-level meeting between both sides.
03:16This time around, it's like there's a renewed attention and involvement of the U.S.
03:22as different from what has always been in the sense that previously it appears that it's all about
03:29distancing themselves and finding fault with our approaches at curtailing the crime.
03:34But now, they seem to be more interested in getting directly involved to assist.
03:41This time, I think they should just let their input be incremental.
03:46What I mean by incremental is to develop from where we are and see what value they can add to
03:52the mission.
03:52Insurgents have been staging attacks against military formations in the Northeast lately.
03:58But security experts say the renewed collaboration between the U.S. and Nigeria could be a game-changer in the
04:04conflict.
04:05If this is done, particularly with good understanding of the officers on the ground,
04:11I think that the hope would be well-placed to believe that we are close to the end of this
04:18menace.
04:19For displaced persons like Ali, they're pinning their hope on this renewed security collaboration,
04:26hoping the U.S. military assistance will help end the war that has cost them everything imaginable.
04:35For more information, visit www.fema.org
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