HOPES of a quick end to the Boko Haram insurgency raging across northeastern Nigeria appear to be fading after the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said the country cannot defeat the terrorists alone.
During the recent election campaigns, security was one of the big issues upon which President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC ran, promising to deal decisively with terrorism. Since assuming office on May 29, President Buhari has travelled to Chad and Niger to hold meetings about how to deal with the insurgents.
Yesterday, the APC's publicity secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said President Buhari should be praised for his shuttle diplomacy aimed at forging a stronger regional front against Boko Haram insurgency rather than be criticised for his efforts. He added, however, that which started off as a Nigerian problem has assumed a regional dimension, affecting more West African countries.
Alhaji Mohammed stated that any solution to the crisis, if it was to endure, must be regional in nature, with Nigeria taking the lead. He added that since terrorism had become a global dimension, no nation, including the United States of America, could fight the growing menace alone.
“This is why even in our days in opposition, we advocated a regional solution to the crisis. Also, Boko Haram’s tentacles have spread as far as Mali, the home base of the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa, a splinter group of the Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
“It is no longer a secret that Boko Haram has now affiliated itself to the Islamic State, seeing itself as the West African chapter of the terror group. How then can Nigeria effectively deal with Boko Haram without seeking the assistance of other concerned countries?” Alhaji Mohammed added.
According to Alhaji Mohammed, it is baffling that some opposition politicians wanted Nigeria to go it alone against Boko Haram, even as the terrorist group has taken its battle beyond the shores of Nigeria, to such countries as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. He reminded the critics of President Buhari’s call for foreign intervention that even the US sought and had continued to seek a global coalition against Al-Qaida and Islamic State, despite the country’s enormous military, economic and political power.
No comments
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.