Uyai-Abasi Etido
President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that his administration spent not less than $1billion to recover territories seized by terrorists.
He made this revelation after being decorated with the African Award for Strengthening Peace, adding that the money could have been spent on critical infrastructures such as Healthcare and Education.
In his words: “When I assumed power in 2015, Boko Haram held about two-thirds of Borno State, half of Yobe State, and a couple of local government areas in Adamawa State, all in the North-East of Nigeria”
“We have been able to retrieve these swathes of territories by investing over $1 billion to acquire hard and software weaponry from the US and other friendly countries to carry out sustained operations against insurgency since 2015. Our Armed Forces and those of our partners in the Multinational Joint Task Force (consisting of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Nigeria) continue to demonstrate great bravery while paying the ultimate price in securing our collective freedom”
“Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scarce and lean resources to ensure that we have a well-resourced military force to take on this task. Ideally, these are resources that could be spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure and other social services, but without peace, we have learnt the hard way that our children cannot go to school or seek good healthcare.”
He also condemned sponsors of Boko Haram, stating that they are planning to split Nigeria and do not mean well for the country.
“Boko Haram is false. You say western education is ungodly. It’s fraudulent. Whoever is financing them just wants to split the country. All the grounds they seized before we came have been recovered, and the rebuilding process is going on well.” He stated.