Secretary to the Borno State Government (SSG), Ambassador Babajida, has faulted the claim by military authorities in the country, that the army had cleared the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents who have ravaged Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States in the North Central zone, since 2009.
bokoThey military high command had claimed that both Adamawa and Yobe States had completely been cleared of the insurgents while in Borno State, only three local governments still have the presence of the terrorists.
But speaking as one of the guests at the a Town Hall meeting, with the theme, “Securing Nigeria: The Imperative of Exemplary Leadership”, organized by the All Progressives Congress[APC], in Abuja, the Borno State SSG said the claim is not true. He challenged both the Federal Government and the military, to show proof of their claim to Nigerians.
According to him ,”There is lapse in the leadership. There has been no political will by the leadership in this country, to tackle the issue of insecurity especially in the North –East, since 2009”
He added that “as at today, we are being told that Adamawa and Yobe have totally been liberated and that only three local government are yet to be liberated by the military in Borno State.That could only be a fact if the Federal Government, especially the military, could take some of us, especially journalists, elders, take us to all the local governments they said have been liberated”.
“ Let them invite us, especially those of us in the government of Borno. Lets go and see things”.
Babajida insisted that there is need for this prove, especially for the people of Borno, for the government’s claim of having liberated the areas under the control of Boko Haram, to be taken seriously.
He asserted that ”my local government has been occupied by Boko Haram for the last seven months and it is said to be one of the liberated local governments in the state. But I can tell that there is no way that claim could be true”.
He said the APC, in conjunction with the Independent National Electoral Commission[INEC], had agreed, with approval of the National Assembly, had agreed to conduct elections for the displaced persons in designated areas but that the Peoples Democratic Party Has disagreed with this arrangement, insisting that everybody must go back to his local government for the elections.
“Now it is all politics. How can you go to the local governments whose infrastructures have been destroyed, no schools, no hospitals, no markets, nothing, practically nothing there, no social life at all in these places. So we must insist that elections must not only hold but hold in designated areas as approved by INEC”, he said. .
Speaking at the occasion also, the Presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, took a swipe at the Federal Government for yielding to pressure of devaluing the nation’s currency, the Naira. said he resisted pressure to devalue the Naira and remove subsidy on petroleum product when he came into office as military Head of State, in December 1983.
Buhari said the sorry state of the Nigerian currency have been a major source of concerned as the Naira exchange rate to an American dollar now goes between 220 and 230 Naira.
He said: “When we came into power in December 1983, we were approached by the world powers at some stage to devalue the Naira, remove petroleum subsidy and remove subsidy on flour, but we refused.
“The issue was that if we get plenty of Naira what are we going to do with it. We even stopped farming and the only thing we get money from them was oil and that was being paid in dollars. If you have excess of groundnut, cocoa, cotton or palm oil, you sell it in foreign exchange. If you devalue the currency, the Naira will be affected and Nigerians will get their good and services
“I was told to remove subsidy on petroleum and because I had the honour of being in charge of petroleum for three and half years, I don’t know in terms of Nigeria, who is subsidising who?
Buhari said the nation has lost greatly from the devaluation of the currency in terms of growing the economy and creating employment for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths as employers who had to take bank loans to import raw materials and machines are running their industries at a loss.
He also disclosed that with meager resources and a limited time line, he was able to increased Nigeria’s refineries from one with a capacity to refine 50,000 barrel per day to four with refining capacity of 450,000 barrel per day without borrowing a single kobo from anywhere.
Buhari challenge any Nigerian to dispute his claim that he used Nigerian money to build the refineries, lay over 300 kilometers of pipeline and built more than twenty depots across the country, adding that if Nigerians must be ask to pay more for petroleum products, the payment must reflect on the economy.
“To the best of my knowledge then, It is Nigeria petrol and Nigerian capital was used to develop the refineries up to the time I was there. We build the refineries from one of 50,000 bpd to four of 450,000 bpd, laid pipeline of over 3000 kilometres, built more than 20 depots with all Nigeria money.
“We did not borrow a kobo for that development. I challenge any Nigeria to dispute this. I can understand for us Nigeria to pay, at the pump station the cost of a barrel, but if they are to pay for that, it must reflect on the economy so that we are not surcharged. Otherwise, who is subsidising who.
On the Chibok girls, the former Nigerian leader said the issue of the Chibok girls has become the greatest embarrassment the Nigerian nation has ever faced, stressing that since independence, the Nigerian nation has never been subjected to this type of embarrassment.
He said: “I have said that the APC as a party has identified three fundamental problems in this country. You cannot repeat them so often because everybody talk about them. They are insecurity, the destruction of the economy and corruption which has become a vicious.
“So, the high expectations by Nigerians of what an APC government should do very frightening because it took at least 16 years for the country to be in the current position and I believe, knowing,y country men and women that when they meet a government , they stick their lives into it.
“The state of insecurity as we said when the election was extended by six weeks is that if the Nigerian government and the military could me not tame Boko Haram for five years, what will they do in six weeks. But I think that some positive moves have been made, but we are still at it.
“The first thing they should have done is to make that you have you have a good plan on the ground to take care of the welfare of the law enforcement agents. You can’t send someone on an operation for months when his family is living in wants without medical care, no school and no good neigbourhood and you want him to serve the country.
“So, if you get disappointed now that soldiers on road block has started saying “what you chop remain” as many of their colleagues were doing many years ago. In the good old days, there were barracks with schools, health Centres and when a soldier goes into an operation, he will think about his family and he will know that they are safe.
“But now, the moral is really in their booths. So, if you expect them to work miracles, I think you are expecting too much. So, their welfare, the equipment, their training has to be given priority.
“I think that the issue if the Chibok girls is really a great embarrassment to this country. Since independence, I don’t think we have been reduced to such a position as a nation as the disappearance of 220 girls between the ages 14 and18 for almost a year and government couldn’t do anything about it and this is the same government that says it wants to remain in place”.
“The incompetence of the government in managing the economy beside security is what has led us to where we are. The question of indiscipline always start from the top.
“If a head of department or a permanent Secretary agreed to fraudulent gutters, if you raise money for a non performance either by a contractor or an individual, you get the money out and share it from that day, that leader has lost his credibility. The question of sacrifice as a leader is at all levels, but from the top, if can easily be imposed. When you are not corrupt, you will not tolerant corruption. Those who dare you, will find out the consequences.
While lamenting the current state of insecurity in the country, Buhari said that the primary responsibility if any government is to protect lives and property of its citizens, adding that the aggregate if several factors have made this task more difficult.
According to him, no government can earn the trust and respect of its citizens as long as the government continue to fail to deliver on its responsibility to the citizens.Security is the very essence of the link between the people and the government.
He said further that “In seeking to tackle our security challenges, we have to embrace a better definition to be able to see security as freedom. Freedom from fear. This is enshrined in the 1999 constitution and I align myself with this and I believe that poverty, deprivation, inequality and injustice remain a threat to national security.
“I believe that a bad and corrupt government is a much danger to national security as armed robbers, kidnappers and terrorists. I want to commend our armed forces for their recent successes over the Boko Haram”.
Adding that he will approach the fight against terrorism in the country through tackling the issue of cross border crime, the influx of small and light weapon into the country as well as strengthening the Customs and Immigration to be able to police the nation’s borders properly.
He said that the nation must refocus its foreign affair policy especially as it deals with negbouring countries and redefining our relationship with them to ensure that they don’t provide safe heaven for terrorist groups.
Buhari also said: “I find it personally embarrassing that a gang of terrorists have better equipment and better motivated than our military. Under an APC government, this will not be allowed to happen. We will equip our military and provide them with the right incentives to ensure that they are very firm in the Defence of their country. We will also ensure and refocus our internal security structure.
“The total security concept reflect directly on improving the quality of the lives of our people and rebuilding the economy. Even if we have the best police, we will not be able to guarantee total security as long as 53 percent of our youths remain unemployed an pd 70 percent of our people are living below the poverty line.
“These are all the issues that my party and myself are committed to. It is along this line that we have promised a regretting plan for the North East of Nigeria and it is based on ensuring that never again will our country experience the type of human tragedy currently going on in that part of the country”.
