*Says no group can hold Nigeria to ransom
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday declared that Nigeria has “technically won the war” against Boko Haram.
According to him, Boko Haram insurgents have been sent away from Yobe and Adamawa states and now remain a force in their heartland of Borno State.
Minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Wednesday said the war against Boko Haram has been largely won, adding that the Nigerian Army has degraded the capacity of Boko Haram to get hold of any territory or launch spectacular attacks.
Corroborating the minister’s statement, Buhari told BBC that the militant group could no longer mount “conventional attacks” against security forces or population centres.
“It has been reduced to fighting with improvised explosive devices (IED) and remains a force only in its heartland of Borno State,” he said.
Boko Haram has been described as one of the world’s deadliest terror groups.
Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.
The group’s six-year insurgency in North-eastern Nigeria has led to the death of some 17,000 people, destroyed more than 1,000 schools and displaced more than 1.5 million people.
The President said that the key to the defeat of Boko Haram is reorganising, retraining and reequipping the army.
The insurgency has kept about one million children out of school in Nigeria, particularly in the three neighbouring states, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said earlier this week.
Buhari has given the army until the end of this year to defeat the group – a deadline that is likely to be extended as Boko Haram is still bombing some areas despite losing towns under its control.
But he said the jihadists had been driven out of Adamawa and Yobe states, and their operations curtailed.
He said, “Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices (IEDs); indoctrinating young guys, they have now been reduced to that.
“But articulated conventional attacks on centres of communication and populations, they are no longer capable of doing that effectively.
“So, I think technically, we have won the war because people are going back into their neighbourhoods. Boko Haram as an organised fighting force, I assure you that we have dealt with them.”
Boko Haram has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and often displays its trademark black flag. Only a few days ago, the Islamic State, to which Boko Haram is affiliated, said its West Africa division had launched more than 100 attacks, killing more than 1,000 people over the past two months, the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites, reported.
Boko Haram has also broadened its threat to neighbouring countries around the Lake Chad region. It reportedly killed five people in a raid in Niger earlier this week.
Buhari said that Nigeria had reorganised and reequipped the military, which had received training from the British, the Americans and the French.
A key priority of the government now, he said, is to rebuild infrastructure and help all displaced people to return to their homes.
….Christmas: No group will hold Nigeria to ransom again
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday urged Nigerians not to lose hope in the face of the socio-economic and security problems plaguing the country.
The President, who made this declaration in his 2015 Christmas message to Nigerians which he personally signed, also warned that no group in the country will be allowed to hold the country to ransom, in a veiled reference to pro-Biafra agitators and Boko Haram insurgents.
The President felicitated with all Nigerians, especially Christians, on the joyous occasion of this year’s Christmas, just as he urged all Nigerians to remember victims of terrorism and insurgency in the country, especially Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“The federal government will continue to collaborate with state governments and other stakeholders to ease the harsh conditions in IDP camps, while the ultimate objective remains to quickly put an end to insurgency and return the IDPs to their homes,” he said .
“We must never again allow any group to hold the nation to ransom under whatever guise.”
According to him, on this occasion of the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, “let us all rededicate ourselves to the virtues of peace, love, honesty, justice, equity, piety, humility and service to others which he taught.”
He maintained that there can be no doubt that a greater manifestation of these virtues and ideals in the lives of Nigerians will immensely help the nation to become a more united, peaceful, secure and progressive nation.
“Let us also reach out in love and compassion to fellow Nigerians who are in distress at this period of our nation’s history,” he said. “Let us also not allow current socio-economic and security challenges to dampen our expectations for a better Nigeria.”
Buhari gave the assurance that his administration had taken a number of measures to restore hope to the people, saying the 2016 budget defines the commitment of his administration to giving Nigeria a new lease of life.
He pointed out that the change slogan was not a campaign gimmick but a promise that must be kept as his administration was determined to bring about tangible changes in the lives of the people.
He reiterated that efforts will be intensified to recover stolen funds, block revenue leakages and enthrone due process, transparency and accountability.
“Public office is a public trust that must be held to the highest ethical standards,” he stated, just as he admonished countrymen to drive carefully.
The president wished all Nigerians a Merry Christmas.
Dogara preaches peace, unity at Christmas
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara on Thursday felicitated with Nigerians, especially Christians, on the occasion of this year’s Christmas.
The Speaker, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, said that Nigerians have every reason to thank God for making it possible for the country to witness yet another Christmas, despite all the challenges facing us as a nation.
“Christmas is a period for us to individually and collectively reflect on who and what made Christmas necessary: our values, virtues and ideals of unity, peace, godliness and tolerance which Christ advocated and exemplified during his earthly ministry.
“I call on Christian faithful to embrace the reason for Christmas and imbibe these virtues and ideals and also to key into the current administration’s change agenda for the peace, unity and development of our dear nation.
“In spite of the challenges we are faced with, I urge all Nigerians to have abiding faith in the fact that by working together we will surmount them and forge ahead as a nation.
“On our part, the House of Representatives is determined more than ever before to pass people-oriented legislations that will help guarantee the much needed and desired change in all facets of our national life,” the Speaker said.
Christmas : It’s time for sober reflection – David Mark
Former Senate president, Senator David Mark has urged Nigerians to persevere under the current security and socio-political challenges saying, “this period calls for sober reflection and a resolve to support the efforts of government to overcome the challenges.”
Senator Mark in a statement by his media aide Paul Mumeh called on both Christians and Muslims to embrace one another in the spirit of the season to commemorate the celebration of Chrismas and Eid-Malaud which calls for peace, love, unity and good neighbourliness.
The former Senate president stated these in a message to Nigerians to mark this year’s Christmas and Eid-el-Maulud in which he canvassed for citizens to imbibe the true teachings of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
He pointed out that the current security, economic and socio-political challenges facing the nation were surmountable if everyone contributes positively towards finding a sustainable solution.
Senator Mark reminded Nigerians not to allow political affiliations to undermine national welfare. “We must remember that Nigeria is one nation of a people with a common interest and welfare of citizens remain the ultimate goal”.
He also advocated for positive synergy between the executive and legislative arms of government without compromising their separate constitutional mandates in order to facilitate the delivery of dividends of democracy to the ordinary man.
The former president of the Senate stressed that collaboration between and among the separate arms of government is inevitable because “it makes for a healthy and smooth working relationship for public officers to deliver the goods to the people.”
-Leadership