The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday, directed the nation’s service chiefs to replicate the kinetic and non-kinetic methods deployed in quelling the violence in the North-East nationwide.
Buhari, at the Passing out Parade and Commissioning Ceremony of Cadets of 69 Regular Course (Army, Navy and Air Force) of the Nigerian Defence Academy, said, “I have instructed the service chiefs to replicate the successes recorded in the North-East to other parts of the country.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday titled, ‘At the commissioning of new cadets, Buhari lists unprecedented military acquisitions in seven years, directs service chiefs to replicate North-East successes.’
According to the President, although the military had recorded victories in the conflict inherited from past administrations, especially in the Northeast, the security challenges had evolved and assumed other dimensions in some areas.
He said, “We have devised both military and non-military methods to intervene, and even rolled out an amnesty programme to rehabilitate repentant terrorists who surrendered and laid down their arms unconditionally.
“Our tasks as the guardians of the nation are to prepare for the evolving and complex security situations and make sure that no terrorists can threaten Nigeria’s sovereign integrity.
“In this regard, I have instructed the service chiefs to replicate the successes in the North-East to other parts of the country, and I call on all Nigerians to continue to support our Armed Forces and security agencies.’’
Buhari charged the military to continue the safeguard the economic and military capability of the nation by not allowing terrorists and insurgents to destroy the investments in key national infrastructures.
Return of artefacts
Meanwhile, the President, on Thursday, said it was time western countries returned assets stolen by past corrupt leaders as well as artefacts taken away by British colonialists.
He also faulted the moral authority of foreign institutions holding Africa’s wealth to question the continent’s ability to judiciously use returned loot.
In an opinion article in the Financial Times of London titled ‘The West must return Africa’s stolen assets, as well as its artefacts,’ the President argued that given the yawning infrastructure gap, widespread poverty and food crisis, African countries cannot afford to wait for unspecified “progress” to be achieved before looted funds are released.
He wrote, “Nigerians were delighted by the news this summer that 72 artefacts, known as the Benin Bronzes, held by the Horniman Museum in London were returning home, 125 years after being plundered by British troops. The clamour for the repatriation of looted treasures is becoming irresistible.
“There was once a similar clamour for the return of Africa’s stolen assets, and I see both as part of the same struggle to bring back to Nigeria what is rightfully ours.
“Siphoned from the continent by corrupt former leaders, countless billions remain stashed in western bank accounts. Although Nigeria has arguably been the most successful among African nations in securing the return of stolen money, it has recovered only a fraction of what remains in the west.”
Like stolen artefacts, the struggle to recover looted funds spells a deeper problem for the continent, Buhari opined.
“Earlier this year, Nigeria was forced to take legal action against the UK National Crime Agency, after repeated delays to the return of money taken out of the country in the 1990s by former dictator General Sani Abacha.
“However, the court case reveals the scale of the challenge before us. Abacha is thought to have siphoned off up to $5bn to the west. This case concerned just £150m.
“Given levels of corruption across Africa, there will be a concern as to whether funds returned will be used appropriately. But we should not forget that it was through western jurisdictions that the money was laundered in the first place.
“Not trusting Africans to spend their own money properly echoes the argument that we can’t be trusted to look after our cultural heritage. In the case of both looted cultural heritage and stolen assets, western museums and authorities largely seem to agree that the loot should, in principle, be handed back. However, the technicalities of repatriation leave plenty of room for maintaining the status quo,” Buhari said.
