A former Chief of Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade, says the military alone cannot win the war against the Boko Haram terrorists, as it requires the support of the political class, businessmen and indeed all citizens.
The former Defence Chief, who spoke at a security seminar organised by non governmental organization, Gusau Institute in Kaduna North-West Nigeria, maintained that for Nigeria to rout out the insurgents from the north-east, every citizen must assist the military in one form or another through information sharing and intelligence gathering.
The keynote speaker and the Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies based in South Africa, Dr. Jakkie Cilliers, was of the opinion that Nigeria and indeed Africa have the potentials of controlling at least 20% of global power by the year 2040 if its present and upcoming leaders would enthrone good governance and transparent leadership.
According to him, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia and Algeria have made significant progress over the years in terms of infrastructural and economic development, but lamented that some other countries in the continent that are being ravaged by war and other economic challenges have made this success insignificant.
Serving state governors, technocrats, serving and retired military officers as well as members of the diplomatic corps, converged on Kaduna for the security seminar with the theme; “Power and Influence in Africa”.
Some of the state governors gave the assurance that the Nigerian Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to enthrone good governance by tackling corruption which many consider the major cause of the country’s underdevelopment.
The governors include that of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje and his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El-rufai.
The Gusau Institute, established by a former Minister of Defence, General Aliyu Gusau, offers training and research on good governance and enhancement of peace and security in Africa.
