Buhari Says His Administration Will Restore Military Cooperation With U.S.
The
President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday said
his administration would restore military cooperation with the United
States of America.
In an article published by the
New York Times in its Tuesday edition,
Buhari promised to among other things reformed the military.
When Boko Haram attacked a school in the town of Chibok,
in northeastern Nigeria, kidnapping more than 200 girls, on the night
of April 14, 2014, the people of my country were aghast. Across the
world, millions of people joined them in asking: How was it possible
for this terrorist group to act with such impunity? It took nearly
two weeks before the government even commented on the crime.
This
lack of reaction was symptomatic of why the administration of
President Goodluck Jonathan was swept aside last month — the first
time an incumbent president has been successfully voted out of office
in the history of our nation. For too long they ruled, not governed,
and in doing so had become so focused on their own self-interest and
embroiled in corruption that the duty to react to the anguish
suffered by their citizens had become alien to them.
My
administration, which will take office on May 29, will act
differently — indeed it is the very reason we have been elected.
This must begin with honesty as to whether the Chibok girls can be
rescued.
Currently their whereabouts remain unknown. We do not know
the state of their health or welfare, or whether they are even still
together or alive. As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can
find them: to do so would be to offer unfounded hope, only to
compound the grief if, later, we find we cannot match such
expectation.
But I say to every parent, family member and friend of
the children that my government will do everything in its power to
bring them home.
What
I can pledge, with absolute certainty, is that from the first day of
my administration, Boko Haram will know the strength of our
collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror, and
bring back peace and normalcy to all the affected areas. Until now,
Nigeria has been wanting in its response to their threat: With our
neighbors fighting hard to push the terrorists south and out of their
countries, our military was not sufficiently supported or equipped to
push north. As a consequence, the outgoing government’s lack of
determination was an accidental enabler of the group, allowing them
to operate with impunity in Nigerian territory.
That is why the answer to defeating Boko Haram begins
and ends with Nigeria. That is not to say that allies cannot help us.
My administration would welcome the resumption of a military training
agreement with the United States, which was halted during the
previous administration. We must, of course, have better coordination
with the military campaigns our African allies, like Chad and Niger,
are waging in the struggle against Boko Haram. But, in the end, the
answer to this threat must come from within Nigeria.
We must start by deploying more troops to the front and
away from civilian areas in central and southern Nigeria where for
too long they have been used by successive governments to quell
dissent. We must work closer with our neighbors in coordinating our
military efforts so an offensive by one army does not see their
country’s lands rid of Boko Haram only to push it across the border
onto their neighbors’ territory.
But as our military pushes Boko Haram back, as it will,
we must be ready to focus on what else must be done to counter the
terrorists. We must address why it is that young people join Boko
Haram.
There are many reasons why vulnerable young people join
militant groups, but among them are poverty and ignorance. Indeed
Boko Haram — which translates in English, roughly, as “Western
Education Is Sinful” — preys on the perverted belief that the
opportunities that education brings are sinful. If you are starving
and young, and in search of answers as to why your life is so
difficult, fundamentalism can be alluring…
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