President Muhammadu Buhari on Christmas Day said his administration is persuading the Boko Haram insurgents to shelve their struggle and accept peace.
The President said if the Boko haram insurgents can be persuaded, his administration would use government institutions to convince them, so that there can be peace in the country to ensure effective development of infrastructures in the country.
President Buhari who spoke when Christian faithfuls in the Federal Capital Territory paid him a traditional homage at Christmas in his residence in Abuja, said there cannot be meaningful development in a nation without first securing it.
“From the analysis of our party during campaign, our three biggest problems are security, unemployment of youths which make up 65 per cent of the population and 65 per cent of them are unemployed. Also is bribery and corruption . We are not too happy but we are happy that our analysis of the problems have not been challenged.
“We appreciate that the security agencies are doing their and their best is showing and we have to continue praying for them.
There can be no development without security, we have to continue to pray for them.
“As for Boko Haram, this govt is determine to make sure that we persuade them if they can be persuaded, we will use government institutions to persuade them to allow peace to reign” the President said.
Stressing that the country can still overcome the problems bedeviling it as it is believed globally that the country is lucky but only needs reorganization and getting the right leadership in place.
“We need to come together and pull the country out of this problem that we find ourselves, everybody in the world believes that Nigeria is a lucky country because of its natural resources. Our problem is how to organize ourselves and how to get the right leadership in place” he said.
Acknowledging the weight of leadership’s commitment he reflected on the current challenges of the internally displaced persons who number over 2 million.
According to him, if the government have 2 million people as IDPs and 70 per cent of them are women and children with a large amount of them orphans growing up not knowing their parents, tradition or culture it behoves a weighty responsibility on leadership to ensure the provision of infrastructures.
He said as leaders, they wake up with feelings for those children with the most important task of not denying them education and the need for their schools to be rebuilt, adding that, there is a need to be thankful to retired Lieutenant General Theophilus
Danjuma’s committee on the North East and the G7 led by the United States who have been doing their best in helping to train the nation’s military.
If we have 2million people are IDP and 70 per cent are women and children and 70 per cent of them are children, some them are orphans, they grew up not knowing their parents, tradition or culture.
Elizabeth Archibong
