Former
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rubbished claims by President
Muhammadu Buhari led government that it has defeated Boko Haram.
Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday countered claims
by the Nigerian government that it has defeated dreaded terrorist Boko
Haram.
While speaking in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state at the 11th
Founder’s Day Ceremony of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), the
former vice president said claims by the Federal Government that it has
defeated Boko Haram were untrue as the terrorist group is still strong
and deadly.
According to him, “the insurgents still occupy a specific geographical space,” Atiku said. He added,
“they (Boko Haram) still retain the capacity for occasional deadly
attacks. Many citizens in the zone still remain vulnerable and live in
fear.”
In fact, the President while speaking in the 2016 Independence Day speech on October 1,
had insisted that Boko Haram was defeated in December 2015.
But, latest onslaught by the group against the Nigerian military and
serious of other suicide bombing by members of the sect indicates that
the President and his Minister of information were just making bogus
claims.
The former Vice-president further stated that the government "cannot
say that the problem is over until every displaced person is able to
return home, to the office, to the market, to the farm, and resume
normal activities.
“We cannot say it is over until we rebuild the schools, the
churches, the hospitals, the markets, and the homes that had been
destroyed. And we cannot say it’s over until the survivors of this
insurgency receive the help they need, including psychological therapy
to deal with the trauma that they have been through.
“I visited an IDP camp on Saturday and had the privilege of
teaching a math class to some children. But the site of hundreds of
children running around and unable to attend school was very gut
wrenching. It still breaks my heart. So we cannot say the insurgency is
over until all the displaced children return to their schools.
“And, as I indicated last year, it would not be enough for
people to simply return to their pre-insurgency lives. We must do better
than that otherwise we would only have papered over the wound without
really treating it.
“People must return to something better, to hope, to improved
schools, to improved economic opportunities, to freedom of worship and
improved inter-religious harmony.”
Read Atiku’s full speech below.
Protocol
Let me join President Ensign and the MC in welcoming you to
this year’s Founder’s Day ceremony of this university. It doesn’t feel
that long ago when we broke ground here for what is to be the first
private university in Northern Nigeria, and the first American
university in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here we are today at the 11th
Founder’s Day of this dream we the AUN.
Looking back and looking around, we have made tremendous
progress. The little acorn is growing into a promising oak. But there’s a
lot still left to be done. As you know, the work of building a great
university never really finishes. A university is a living organism. It
has to keep growing; it is continuously nourished. It becomes ever more
complex but also integrated, more extended, and more interesting.
This past year has been particularly challenging for us and for
the country. The country’s economy, which had remained weak, slid into a
recession. There has been little public spending as the new government
in Abuja and most state capitals try to figure out how to proceed with
governance, just as oil production and revenues plummeted. And when
citizens, including parents, have little income to spend, especially in
the midst of uncertainty, the effect spreads to various sectors of the
economy, including higher education.
But it was also a year that saw significant improvements in the
security situation in the North East, our catchment area. The
commitment of the Federal government and the state governments in this
zone, as well as the support of the governments of our neighbouring
countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, have pushed back against the
violent insurgency and improved the security of citizens in the area.
The improvement in the security situation also means that some
internally displaced persons have been able to return to their homes and
try to resume normal lives. I would like to specially acknowledge the
efforts of our security forces in making these possible.
However, more still needs to be done to restore normalcy in
this area. The insurgency remains. The insurgents still occupy a
specific geographical space. They still retain the capacity for
occasional deadly attacks. Many citizens in the zone still remain
vulnerable and live in fear; and we cannot say that the problem is over
until every displaced person is able to return home, to the office, to
the market, to the farm, and resume normal activities. We cannot say it
is over until we rebuild the schools, the churches, the hospitals, the
markets, and the homes that had been destroyed. And we cannot say it’s
over until the survivors of this insurgency receive the help they need,
including psychological therapy to deal with the trauma that they have
been through. I visited an IDP camp on Saturday and had the privilege of
teaching a math class to some children. But the site of hundreds of
children running around and unable to attend school was very gut
wrenching. It still breaks my heart. So we cannot say the insurgency is
over until all the displaced children return to their schools.
And, as I indicated last year, it would not be enough for
people to simply return to their pre-insurgency lives. We must do better
than that otherwise we would only have papered over the wound without
really treating it. People must return to something better, to hope, to
improved schools, to improved economic opportunities, to freedom of
worship and improved inter-religious harmony. People must return to the
realization that it is ok not only to be different but also to learn,
including so-called Western education. You see, Western education really
belongs to humanity since different parts of the world contributed to
that which we now call Western education and culture. In any case,
nobody says we must take everything that is associated with that
culture; we can take that which helps us improve our societies while
ignoring that which doesn’t.
And we must no longer wait for socio-economic and political
problems to fester for a long time before we tackle them, the way we
routinely wait for small potholes on our roads to develop into huge
gullies and death-traps before we try to fix them, if at all. That
should be a critical lesson of this insurgency.
So let us take immediate steps to put our people to work. Let’s
fix our roads, bridges and schools and other infrastructure. Let us
expand schooling in this zone and other parts of the country. Let’s
expand enrolment, and hire and train highly qualified and motivated
teachers who are paid well. Let’s resolve to strictly enforce the law
that makes primary and secondary education free and compulsory in this
country so that every child stays in school until at least the age of
18. Let us expand vocational training in addition to improving our
universities and polytechnics. Let us expose our youth to
entrepreneurship as part of their education, to help us to really create
employment and grow the economy and incomes in a sustainable way.
Germany seems to offer a great example on vocation training and
apprenticeship. We may want to carefully study its system to see how we
can adopt elements of it for our country, our people and our economy.
When we take these measures that expand educational and career
opportunities for our young people, we give them hope; we give them
positive things to aspire to. We must demonstrate to our youth that
living is far better than dying. When we provide them these
opportunities we are likely to see more of them receive the kinds of
awards and honours that were bestowed on these outstanding people that
were so honoured here today.
But we should not stop there. Citizens are not just about jobs
and incomes. We have to take measures to facilitate citizen engagement,
especially the youth. Our young people have to take greater interest in
public affairs. And I am not just talking about voting in elections.
They should be organized and participate in debates on public policy and
community service. And as a country, we have to find ways to lift up
those who need help, to give voice to the voiceless, to listen to the
voices of those who feel marginalized and left behind, and find ways to
address their concerns. The recent Brexit referendum in the UK and the
November 8 Presidential election in the US hold important lessons for
us. Being established and stable democracies they had peaceful outcomes.
We may not be that lucky because of the fragility of our democratic and
other public institutions.
To our students I say your handwork and sacrifices are worth
it. You are among the privileged. So take full advantage of the
opportunities you have. Education is an opportunity and remains the key
that unlocks opportunities and opens new horizons. And in the
contemporary world, those without education and requisite skills will
have a harder time attaining social mobility. This is the world of big
data, of coding, of genetic engineering, of 3D printing, of renewable
energy, of artificial intelligence, of self-driving automobiles, of
space tourism, of inter-connected devices (the internet of things), and
of social diversity and inclusion. You have the opportunity to prepare
and equip yourselves for that world so that you, your families and your
country are not left behind.
I sincerely thank the leadership of this University under the
tireless Dr Margee Ensign. I salute the faculty and staff, all of you
that make this place work. Let me also thank the Board of Trustees,
under the very smart and meticulous Akin Kekere-Ekun, for its work over
the past year and the preceding years. We also owe a debt of gratitude
to the state and federal governments for the improved security in the
environment within which AUN operates. I congratulate those honoured
here today. You are truly deserving of your awards.
Let’s all rededicate ourselves to improving this university, this dream, and this region and our country.
Thank you.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
