President Muhammadu Buhari has said that reports reaching him say that the Nigerian Army needs to improve in its efforts to secure the country.
He stated this Monday during a closed-door meeting with the North East Governors Forum and security chiefs at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The president noted that insecurity and lack and resources were hindering many of his administration’s plans to provide dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
However, he said that his government remained committed to meeting the aspirations of Nigerians in spite of the challenges.
Buhari said, “We have problems of resources and security. You know what we inherited. The people of the North East will appreciate what this administration has done.
“The general report I am getting, other from the conventional ones from the intelligence sources, is that the Army should do better and this is the truth.
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“It is so often coming to me that I have to believe it. I listened to your representation, the governor who is on the hotspot now in the North East, Adamawa, Bauchi and the rest of them are enjoying peace. I hope they are respecting the sacrifice made by the military.
“I assure you that the government is doing its best. Lack of resources has hit us very hard. COVID-19 is a phenomenon. It has no respect for colour, you can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you can’t hear it. America and us are the same. It is a fantastic phenomenon. I think we should all go back to God.
“I assure you North East governors, especially the governor of Borno, that we go to bed and wake up thinking about you and how to secure our country. That is the fundamental responsibility of a government; security. In our party, we recognize this. We campaigned on three fundamental issues: security, economy and fighting corruption.
“Nigerians, we thank God, understood us and they voted for us. In 2019, we went round the whole country, saying the same thing and apologizing for not doing better, but we are doing our best. I think Nigerians believe us and we did our best.
“It is true that we lost some states as a ruling party in a developing country, which is normal. I am proud of that because we are impartial, that is why as ruling party, we lost some states. That means we have our own mistakes.
“Some of those that defeated us are sitting here. We know we are a developing country but we respect our country, otherwise, with the use of Army, the police and the rest of them, we could have overrun you. We just wanted to show that we are humane and we are Nigerians. We will continue to do our best.”
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