The
President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, Sunday said his
administration would accord priority to ending the Boko Haram insurgency
to bring stability in the
north east geopolitical zone as well as focus on
re-activating the Lake Chad.
Buhari however said that his third
priority would be to deploy the enormous resources in the region through
vigorous search for oil along the Chad Basin and parts of Borno State.
He spoke at his residence in Kaduna
while responding to requests made by Governor Kashim Shettima, the Shehu of
Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi and some elders of the state
who formed the delegation from Borno State that travelled to pay him a
congratulatory visit.
Buhari said he was very much aware
of the problems of the north east region and would not waste time in resolving
them one after the other.
On Boko Haram, he said his
administration will enhance collaboration with neighbouring
countries governments like Chad, Niger and Cameroon to curtail the trans-
border movements of Boko Haram insurgents, adding that this would lead to the
cutting off of supply of arms, recruitment and training of fresh combatants for
the insurgents.
According to him, the stability of
the north east was a must project for his administration even as nothing
could be achieved unless peace was restored to the troubled region.
The President-elect also assured the
delegation that the issue of the receding of Lake Chad would be tackled
through the transfer of water from the central African Republic to the lake to
boost its use for fishing and irrigation farming. He recalled that he once read
a document which raised fears over the receding of the Lake Chad and
handed same over to then President Olusegun Obasanjo, pointing out that he was
coming in as President, he will handle the matter frontally as the Lake had the
potentials to create millions of jobs through irrigation and many other
commercial uses it had been associated with over the years.
Buhari said he had suggested many
years ago, the need to take the search for oil in the north seriously not only
to increase the export potentials of Nigeria but also to balance cross regional
perceptions and manage agitations so as to enhance the stability of the country.
He promised to pay special attention to the economic potentials of the
northeast so as to make it attractive for investments.
Governor Kashim Shettima who led the
delegation had earlier said that they visited Buhari to congratulate him over
his historic victory at the polls. and to also remind him of problems affecting
Borno State which he already knew.
Shettima said the people of Borno
felt attached to Buhari given his background as someone that served as military
governor in the state, adding that the citizens looked up to him with so much
hope because he was very much familiar with their problems.
3 things I’ll do for troubled north east — Buhari
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
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