Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Imo State Governor Senator Hope Uzodinma has declared that President Muhamadu Buhari has succeeded in his fight against insurgency in the country by stamping out the dreaded Boko Haram sect in most of the volatile states in the country.
Although he maintained that the fight against insecurity requires a collective effort but pointed out that with the current strategy adopted by the president in handling the situation, he noted that it would only be a matter of time it would be completely overcome.
Uzodinma, however, emphasised that the president is on course in the handling of the security situation in the country just as he pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with him as he continues to consolidate on the gains of his efforts to completely flush out insecurity from the land.
He said contrary to the submission of some Nigerians, Buhari was actually doing his best to contain the situation and therefore needed the support and understanding of the people.
Speaking at Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport in Owerri on arrival from Abuja, the Governor noted that since the insurgency started in 2006, it was actually Buhari that had given Boko Haram their greatest challenge.
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According to Uzodinma, some Nigerians have conveniently forgotten that before Buhari took over in 2015, Boko Haram was occupying almost the entire Borno State and part of Yobe and Adamawa states.
He said it was the president who sustained efforts that led to flushing of Boko Haram out of those territories, while no inch of Nigerian land is being occupied by the terrorists.
The Governor insisted that President Buhari deserves commendation from Nigerians and not condemnation in the ways he had handled the insecurity since 2015 in addition to other areas.
“Don’t forget how Adamawa, Borno and some other areas in the North were before; could the people come out freely to cast their votes in these states? But they do now; that is evidence that the president has done well and it will need the collective efforts of the people to tackle insecurity in Nigeria,” Uzodinma said.
Besides security, the Governor noted that the president had handled the economy well with agriculture returning to be the mainstay of the country’s economy.
According to him, the Federal Government’s agricultural policy has led to the nation being almost self-sufficient in rice production with the attendant spiral effects in job creation.
He also threw his weight behind Buhari in the border closure, saying that it had boosted local food production and enhanced the value of local goods in Nigeria.
Governor Uzodinma also commended the president in the fight against corruption, arguing that those who mean well for the country are happy that Buhari had been sincere in the implementation of his three cardinal programmes of security, economy and fight against corruption.
‘’No matter what anybody says, I think we are all agreed that this president is a patriot who really means well for our country. He needs our support,” he submitted.
The Imo State Governor urged Nigerians to refrain from playing politics with matters of security and the economy and appreciate what the president had achieved in those areas.