TO avoid a repeat of the 2004 experience, when over 300 children were killed in an attempt by Russians to free hostages held by Chechens in the North Caucasus region of Russia, the Federal Government is taking caution in the process to free over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, said this on Thursday at a Chatham House lecture series held at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, United Kingdom (UK).
Okupe, who spoke on “Priorities and Progress in Nigeria: Imperatives for stability and growth,” said the Nigerian military and other security agencies, as well as their international allies, are able to secure the freedom of the kidnapped girls from their abductors, but would rather weigh all options to ensure that they were brought back alive.
The presidential aide described tackling the current insecurity in the north-eastern part of the country as the major priority of the Federal Government and lamented that the various acts of insurgency were slowing down growth in other equally important sectors of the economy.
According to Okupe, “we are taking advantage of the offers from our international military and intelligence allies to get a greater understanding of the landscape and identify key locations.
“We are working with our neighbours to secure the borders and limit the movements of the Boko Haram fighters, building on the agreements reached at the recent summits in Paris and London.”
He added that government was also working on blocking domestic and international sources of funds for the insurgents group.
Speaking on the various milestones attained by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in the last three years, Okupe said the reduction of Nigerias food import bills by half, as well as successful implementation of reforms in critical sectors of the economy were crucial to the attainment of social and economic stability .
The presidential aide asserted that since Nigeria attained independence in 1960, no administration had done so much as the Jonathan administration in guaranteeing food sufficiency, better power output, effective transportation and general macro-economic stability.
“Consequent upon the faithful implementation of the transformation agenda, by the end of 2013, Nigeria’s non-oil exports had increased 10 fold over two years, reaching almost $3 billion from $276 million in 2011.
“Nigeria is, once again, the world’s largest producer of cassava, a major raw material in the European and Asiatic food markets, and also accounted for 36 per cent of the total global cocoa exports in 2013,” he said.
While describing the reforms carried out in the transportation sector in the last three years as unprecedented, Dr Okupe said “President Jonathan inherited a road transport network that was near total collapse.
“Critical economic roads, such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Shagamu-Ore-Benin road; the Kano-Maiduguri expressway, the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja expressway, the Enugu-Port harcourt road and the East-West road were in a state of total or near total disrepair, resulting in countless accidents and needless loss of life, with the attendant extreme frustration of commuters who spend countless hours travelling across the country.
“However, massive reconstruction and rehabilitation, embarked upon by the administration, ensured that well over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s total existing road network have been repaired or are undergoing rehabilitation.”
He added that train services, which were almost non-existent in 2011, had been revitalised with old rail lines rehabilitated and new modern ones being constructed.
“The trains now provide means of transportation to over four million Nigerians annually. There are new gauge lines under construction from Ajaokuta to Warri and Abuja to Kaduna, while the Eastern axis of railway from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is nearing completion,” he added.
On the reforms carried out by the administration in the power sector, Okupe said it was significant that Nigeria rose from a power generation capacity of less than 3,000 megawatts in 2011 to almost 5,000 megawatts in 2013.
On the 2015 general election, Okupe said President Jonathan remained committed to ensuring that the vote of every Nigerian counted, adding that the president would not waiver in his resolve to maintain the independence and integrity of the electoral body.
The Chatham House lecture was directed by the Director, Area Studies/International Law and Head of the Africa Programme of the Chatham House, Alex Vines.
Source: Tribune
