Crush Boko Haram in three months, NGF tell FG

Niger State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu
| credits: File copy

The 19 northern governors, under the aegis of the Northern States Governors Forum, have called on the Federal Government and the international community to defeat Boko Haram in three months.

They said this was the only way the battered economy of the region could be rebuilt.

The governors met with key investors in Abuja on Saturday at an Economic Investment Forum aimed at “creating opportunities for economic prosperity and security in the northern states and the nation in a period of unprecedented insecurity challenges.”

Chairman of the Forum, who is also the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues at the event, said the task of rebuilding the economy of states in the North would not be an easy task given the security challenges facing the region.

He said, “Boko Haram should be eliminated at the maximum of three months. That is the expectation of the Northern States from the Federal government and the international community.

“The current challenges facing our country demonstrates the importance of working together across geo-political zones, political party lines, and ethnic-religious affinities to defeat our common enemies – poverty and corruption, which unfortunately continue to undermine our efforts in taking our rightful place as the giant of Africa. We can no longer remain the sleeping giant. And the time for a paradigm shift is certainly now.

“We are under no illusions that achieving this will be easy, especially in a fast changing information age. We also believe that progress in any form comes with a price.”

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said he had received assurances from the President of INTERPOL, Mrs. Mireille Ballestrazzi, that the organisation would search the whole world for the schoolgirls that were abducted on April 14 from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

Jonathan spoke in Oporoza, in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State.

He was in the state for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency’s Shipyard and Dockyard at Okerenkoko and Nigeria Maritime University, Kurutie.

The President said, “The international community is angry with the whole thing. We have support from other countries; we promise the world that we must get the girls out.

“I am very pleased with the support coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Republic of China, Israel, Spain and others.

“I just had a communication with the President of INTERPOL who said they are ready to join the Nigerian government to search the whole world. Wherever these girls are, we must get them.”

Meanwhile, President Jonathan was expected at the 80th birthday celebration of the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, on Saturday but he did not show up.

Instead, he was represented at the event held the Otunba Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, by his Chief of Staff, Gen. Sodeinde Arogbofa (retd).

Arogbofa, in his remarks, said Jonathan was attending to crucial security issues confronting the nation.

The President, who congratulated the monarch, said there was the need for Nigerians to tackle the challenge of insecurity facing the country.

Oba Adetona frowned at intolerance, which he said was fast gaining ground in the nation’s political landscape. He advised politicians not to muzzle free speech by haunting down those who criticised them constructively.

The birthday attracted traditional rulers, politicians, captains of industry among others. Those who attended the event included the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his wife; Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Adamu  Mu’azu, former All Peoples Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd);  Pastor Tunde Bakare;  a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam el-Rufai.

 Globacom chairman, Otunba Mike Adenuga; Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Governors Ibikunle Amosun and Dr. Seriake Dickson of Ogun and Bayelsa states, among others.