BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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GOVERNOR Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Monday, March 28, in Maiduguri, blamed the predicament of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls on former President Goodluck Jonathan. Shettima claimed that it took Jonathan 19 days after the kidnap of the girls to call him on phone on the issue.
The governor, who was speaking while hosting former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his office, said that if Obasanjo had been the one in power the Chibok girls would not have been in captivity until now.
He paid glowing tribute to the leadership qualities of Obasanjo, insisting that the Boko Haram crisis would not have so badly degenerated if he were at the helm during the outbreak of the insurgency.
He said testimonies of former governors showed that the former president was on top of security issues in all the states of the country and at various times averted what could have been major security breaches.
He said: “Without the Nigerianness in you, this country would have been divided along religious lines between 2001 and 2003 when hate brewed from the north to the south over our diversity of faith.
Your Excellency, Sir, the majority of Nigerians salute you; we adore and respect you and we shall forever be grateful to you for standing for the unity, continued existence and the recovery of Nigeria when Nigerians needed you most.”
On his part Obasanjo said the Nigerian nation is winning the war against Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in the North-East sub-region of the country. He said that the military and other security agencies were on the ascendancy over the forces of destruction, menace and dangers of terrorism and insurgency that has lasted for over six years in the country.
He lamented that “There is no family in this state that has not suffered loss,” asking the governor to accept his condolences and those of his entire family “in these difficult times of grief and trauma.”
He said Shettima and the entire people of the state had “shown what can be done if people resolve not to give way to evil and we must pray for the repose of the souls of those that have lost their lives during the six-year insurgency and terrorism.”
While praising the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in tackling insurgency and terrorism, Obasanjo said: “Talking to the president about the issue of insurgency in particular and insecurity in general, I know that he is very concerned and not only concerned, he has got it right. Today, now I think we are not out of the woods yet but it would appear that we can see the light beyond the tunnel. There is no family in this state that has not suffered loss.’ ’
He said that once the retrieved territories were cleared of mines, then the massive socio-economic rehabilitation and development of the whole areas that had been devastated would take place.
— Mar 29, 2016 @ 13:50 GMT
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