The President-elect, Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on
Tuesday said his administration
would restore military cooperation
with the United States of America.
In an article published by the New
York Times in its Tuesday edition,
Buhari promised to among other
things reformed the military.
The outgoing President Goodluck
Jonathan-led administration had
cancelled the training component
of its military cooperation with the
US citing a lack of sincerity on the
part of the Americans for its
decision.
But Buhari said, “My administration
would welcome the resumption of
a military training agreement with
the United States, which was halted
during the previous administration.
We must, of course, have better
coordination with the military
campaigns our African allies, like
Chad and Niger, are waging in the
struggle against Boko Haram. But,
in the end, the answer to this
threat must come from within
Nigeria.”
Buhari also said he would deploy
additional troops in the battle foul
away from civilian areas in the
south and the north central parts of
the country.
In the article, the President-elect
said, in the fight to end the Boko
Haram insurgency, “We must start
by deploying more troops to the
front and away from civilian areas
in central and southern Nigeria
where for too long they have been
used by successive governments to
quell dissent.
“We must work closer with our
neighbours in coordinating our
military efforts so an offensive by
one army does not see their
country’s rid of Boko Haram only to
push it across the border onto their
neighbour’s territory.”
A member of the Buhari team, who
pleaded for anonymity because he
was not authorised to speak to the
media said, “Without being told,
you should know that what he is
simply saying is that under his
administration, the military will
revert to their constitutional role of
defending the nation against
external aggression QED.”
It was also gathered that the
military would be overhauled and
professionalised while the police
would be better empowered to
take the leading role in internal
security.
According to the New York Times
article, which carried Buhari’s
byline, the incoming
administration will aside from
using the military to deal with the
terrorists’ threat, it will pay greater
attention to counter-terrorism
initiatives.
Buhari noted that his
administration would seek to
address why young people were
attracted to join the sect. He
identified some of the reasons to
include poverty and ignorance.
He said, “Indeed Boko Haram –
which translates in English, roughly,
as “western education is sinful” –
preys on the perverted belief that
the opportunities that education
brings are sinful.
“If you are starving and young, and
in search of answers as to why your
life is so difficult, fundamentalism
can be alluring. We know this for a
fact because former members of
Boko Haram have admitted it: They
offer impressionable young people
money and the promise of food,
while the group’s mentors twist
their minds with fanaticism.
“So, we must be ready to offer the
parts of our country affected by this
group an alternative. Boosting
education will be a direct counter-
balance to Boko Haram’s appeal.
“In particular we must educate
more young girls, ensuring they
will grow up to be empowered
through learning to play their full
part as citizens of Nigeria and pull
themselves up and out of poverty.
Indeed, we owe it to the
schoolgirls of Chibok to provide as
best an education as possible for
our fellow young citizens.”
He observed that Boko Haram feeds
off despair, lack of hope that things
can improve. The former Head-of
State also argued that by attacking
a school, and kidnapping more than
200 schoolgirls, it sought to strike
at the very place where hope for
the futurewas being nurtured, and
the promise of a better Nigeria.
“It is our intention to show Boko
Haram that it will not succeed,” he
said.
The retired army general also
promised that his administration
would not only defeat the sect
militarily, it would ensure that it
provides the very education the
sect despises to help our people
help themselves.
Quoting the late Nelson Mandela,
Buhari said the sect would soon
learn that “education is the most
powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
