Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on the international community to help tackle the humanitarian crisis in the North East, ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency
“We call on the international community for help. Yes, the Boko Haram terrorists are on the run, but their menace has not been completely solved,” he said at the donation of 35,930 kilogrammes of seeds by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to Borno State Government, in Maiduguri, yesterday.
Obasanjo, an IITA ambassador, said the international community has great role to play in ensuring food security in the region.
He commended Governor Kashim Shettima for his numerous achievements in agriculture, in spite of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“When I came to the Farm Centre, I saw this line of tractors, 1,000 of them; I also saw combined harvesters, complete with their implements. What struck my mind was the need to tell the world that our problem in the North-East is not because people are not willing or ready to work in agriculture. It has to do with the insecurity associated with the Boko Haram insurgency,” he said.
In his address, Shettima thanked the former president for the visit and for identifying with Borno people.
He said most of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have started returning to their liberated communities.
Shettima noted that provision of new improved varieties of maize, rice, millet, soyabean, sorghum, cowpea, will go a long way in complementing efforts of the state government in its agricultural revolutionary drive, to address unemployment and hunger. He also promised continued partnership of his government and IITA.
Meanwhile, National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Abdulkadir Abdulsalami has said 219 Chibok girls were not kidnapped by Boko Haram but were used to dent the image of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Abdulsalami also said the wrath of God will be visited on the All Progressives Congress (APC) for manipulating Nigerians about their abduction.
In a statement, yesterday, Abdulsalami said the All Progressives Congress (APC) should expect the wrath of God for deceiving Nigerians and manipulating the parents of the Chibok girls. The national chairman said the government should not claim credit “for what they have packaged, pre-arranged and now executing”.
He said the government has worsened the suffering of Nigerians and if President Muhammadu Buhari does not leave office, nothing good should be expected from his administration.
“The government should expect the wrath of God for deceiving Nigerians and manipulating the parents of the Chibok girls. The release of the Chibok girls is a fluke and an ordinary abracadabra. If by this time, they claimed to have captured Sambisa forest, from which other forest will they say they have brought these girls,” Abdulsalami said.
“I think Nigerians need to be told the truth by our leaders, if they want sympathy from Almighty God, what happened to the Chibok girls. By the time we get to May 29 next year (2018), they will now release all the remaining girls to say they have fought the war, they have won the war.
“But the fact of the matter, as I have been saying before, during and after the campaign for the 2015 general elections, is that these Chibok girls were not kidnapped by any Boko Haram. They were prepared and arranged to destroy the image and administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The present government has worsened the suffering of Nigerians. We have suffered enough, and if Buhari doesn’t leave office, Nigerians should expect worse repercussions from the government.”
Abdulsalami said that if the APC lacks the capacity to lead, the party should step aside and let a responsible government take over.
“And if they don’t have capacity, let them get away from government. The APC should step aside and let a responsible government take over the administration of Nigeria. You can’t talk of the government without bringing in APC. Buhari came on the platform of change, using deceit in all its programmes,” he said.