President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday in Abuja that significant
improvements in national security remains the topmost priority of his
administration because other socio-economic initiatives cannot be
successfully implemented without adequate security in the country.
Speaking at an audience with Britain’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir
Nicholas Houghton, President Buhari reaffirmed his administration’s
determination to end the Boko Haram insurgency as quickly as possible.
“For a country to be efficiently administered, it must first be well
secured because other social and economic initiatives cannot thrive in an
atmosphere of insecurity.
“An environment has to be secured before it can be rehabilitated. Nigeria
currently has about 1.5 million internally displaced persons and they need
to be returned to their homes and brought out of trauma.
“Their schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, farms and livelihoods have
been destroyed by insurgents. If they are not catered for, the country may
lose their loyalty.
“When Boko Haram is pushed out and the environment secured, normal life
will be restored. That is what we are determined to do. Other things like
farming, economic activities and social life will then return. Nigerians
are quite enterprising,” President Buhari told the British Defence Chief.
The President said that Nigeria appreciated Britain’s support for the
retraining of its Armed Forces and asked for more assistance in other
areas such as logistics, equipment and intelligence.
He also called for more international support for regional efforts to
improve security in the Gulf of Guinea through which crude oil stolen from
Nigeria is shipped.
In his remarks, General Houghton said that the Buhari Presidency was a
huge opportunity for Nigeria to make progress.
General Houghton said that he was very impressed with the progress Nigeria
has made in the war against terrorism under President Buhari and assured
the President that Britain will continue to support the Federal
Government’s efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency.
“We will also help to ensure that the causes of insurgency are removed.
Beyond the military dimension, we are also interested in the stabilization
dimension,” he said.