By ISAIAH BENJAMIN
Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi and his Edo State counterpart, Adams Oshiomhole, have expressed divergent views on the effort to end the Boko Haram insurgency.
While Amaechi held the view that the federal government cannot bring insurgency to an end unless factors such as corruption, poverty, unemployment and injustice are addressed, Oshiomhole and the chief of army staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, expressed confidence in the ability of the armed forces to defeat the terrorists.
Amaechi blamed the Presidency for the religious crisis in some parts of the country, saying it is an attempt to incite the Muslims and Christians against one another in a bid to win elections by all means come 2015.
Amaechi, who spoke yesterday while featuring on a Kaduna-based liberty radio weekly programme, ‘Guest of the Week,’ stressed that “until the federal government is ready to first tackle the underlining factors such as corruption, education, injustice, unemployment and poverty, the issue of insurgency would continued to be a mirage”.
According to him, if the federal government could support the military through intelligence gathering which helped in combating militancy in Rivers State and other states in the region, doing same would be a good beginning to end the menace.
As part of measures to end activities of insurgents in the country, he suggested that the federal government needed to work with everybody, especially the locals in order to know who and where the insurgents live, reiterating that it was the failure of the government in the first place to provide good governance that resulted in the insecurity bedevilling the country.
However, the Edo State governor and the chief of army staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah have expressed confidence in the ability of the Nigerian Armed Forces to defeat the terrorists troubling parts of the county.
Speaking weekend at the Nigerian Army Corps and School of Supply and Transport, Benin City during the commissioning of its remodelled Officers’ Mess, Comrade Oshiomhole said terrorism and other violent crimes are alien to the nation and will soon be stamped out.
He said, “I believe President Goodluck Jonathan is providing the leadership and the Nigeria Army is doing an excellent job in making a bold statement that these terrorists will be defeated. By the grace of God Nigeria will be secured for generations yet unborn.
In his remarks, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah, assured Nigerians that the Nigerian Army will overcome the current security challenges facing the country.
