Mallam Garba Shehu, President Muhammad Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, believes the president deserves credit for his efforts in addressing the country’s farmers/herders crisis.
Shehu made the announcement on Friday while delivering a paper titled ‘Fake news: Challenges of information management’ at the 10th anniversary of the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA) in Katsina State.
“It is a fact that the Buhari administration is the only government in Nigeria’s history that has proposed a workable solution to the herder-farmer conflict.”
“The Buhari administration is deeply concerned about the threat to civilians and peaceful coexistence between different ethnic and religious groups posed by farmer-herder clashes, banditry, and land disputes.”
“It is, however, incorrect to assert that the government has done or is doing nothing to address the threats.”
“First, there are ongoing efforts to establish cattle ranches to prevent or limit open grazing, a practice that causes conflict between herders and farmers.”
“This is an age-old problem that Nigerian governments have faced since colonial times.” Land distribution, on the other hand, is handled at the state level.
“This means that state governors must be willing to drive the process forward.” Last year, the federal government announced a plan to collaborate with states to address these issues.
“Unfortunately, this has been lacking in some states, and Nigerians are aware of the Government’s efforts in the long and determined battle against Boko Haram.”
“When the government took power, the terrorist organization controlled and administered an area the size of Belgium.” They now have none. Terrorists have taken refuge in remote forests and across borders.
“This makes extinguishing the final flames of the insurgency difficult, and the government has no illusions about the potent threat that still exists.”
“According to recent statistics, over 14,500 boko haram members have voluntarily surrendered.”
“However, the progress that has been made cannot be denied.” In response to rising crime and insecurity, the government launched a new community policing initiative.
“As opposed to previous practice, 10,000 new constables were recruited, and the process is underway for another 10,000 to be recruited from the areas they will protect.”
“The government hopes that this will bring policing closer to the people.” The initial initiative was budgeted at N13 billion. According to the plan, an additional 10,000 police officers will be hired each year.
“It is widely held that the president’s comments on IPOB, which resulted in the banning of Twitter in Nigeria, were divisive.” It was not the case for many.
“President Buhari has thus warned against disruptive and divisive social media influences, and the government’s action is not a knee-jerk reaction to Twitter’s preposterous deletion of his tweet, which should have been read in full.”
“The tweet was not a threat, but rather a factual statement.” IPOB, as a terrorist organization, poses a significant threat to Nigerian citizens’ safety and security.
“When the President said they would be treated “in a language they understand,” he was simply reiterating that their force would be met with force. It is a fundamental principle of security services response all over the world.
“This is not a call to hatred, but rather a pledge to protect citizens’ right to be free from harm.” According to Shehu, “the government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the University’s Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, stated that it is a great pleasure to witness the institution’s decade of existence.
According to him, “it is not an easy task to develop an institution from the ground up to its current level, claiming it is the best among the other universities with which FUDMA was founded.”
He also described the difficulties that the university’s administration faced in the previous ten years before reaching its current position.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the university rewarded some of its employees during the event for their commitment and dedication to duty.
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