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, reform the military.
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 will
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 field 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 in 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
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 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,
identifying 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 fed on 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 future was 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.”
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