Nigeria’s Information Minister, Labaran Maku, has asked Nigerians not to expect the Boko Haram insurgency to disappear overnight, despite the foreign assistance the country is receiving.
Over the weekend, the President of Nigeria alongside his Benin Republic, Niger, Chad and Cameroon counterparts were hosted by French President, Francois Hollande at the Africa Security Summit, in Paris.
“There is no warranty that because this cooperation has come, terror will disappear overnight,” he said, while on Sunrise Daily.
The minister further stated that a lot of information in fighting terror will come from Nigerians and that only a united front will win the war.
He called for cooperation between the State governments and the Federal Government, between all members of the different political groups and between Nigerians, in order to ensure early victory against the Boko Haram insurgents.
“Whatever differences there may be, our country must come first,” he said.
While shedding light on the importance of the meeting, Maku said the cooperation by all the countries signified international coordination against the terrorists, who had become a threat to both West and Central Africa.
“Boko Haram is an international network; fighting it needs international cooperation” he said, insisting that the Nigerian Armed Forces is well equipped to fight the war but needed help as terrorism is an international war.
“There are no better trained Armed Forces in Africa than Nigeria’s Army,” he said.
He also stated that the meeting was necessary to reduce the restriction placed by boundaries as the Nigerian Army cannot chase the insurgents across any border, where they (insurgents) retreat to.
On the alleged lack of cooperation by the Cameroonian government, Maku explained that the International Task Force set up by Nigeria with Niger and Chad did not include Cameroon, because Cameroon is not a part of ECOWAS.
Member countries of ECOWAS had formed regional alliance on security but since Cameroon was not a part of ECOWAS, it was not included as part of the International Task Force.
This perhaps explains why “cooperation has been coming from Cameroon but not as much as that from Niger and Chad.”
Terrorism is now an international movement, it flows from country to country, he said, adding that cooperation by 5 African countries would break boundaries to allow their Forces chase terrorists across borders.
On the level of information sharing, Maku said discussions were on-going with the Defence Headquarters to integrate journalists in missions but raised concerns over their safety.
