The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe has condemned reports made by Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima which stated that the Nigerian army is losing the war against Boko Haram.
Okupe said: “We are certainly not involved in conventional warfare but are rather engaged in guerrilla warfare with all its unpredictability.
“However, it is heartwarming that our military, which has participated in numerous international peace keeping operations where they helped to quell insurgencies, has acquired the sophistication and necessary capacity to adapt to the ever changing modus operandi of the insurgents.
“It is therefore wrong for anyone, Nigerian or foreigner, to assert that our armed forces cannot defeat the Boko Haram insurgents or to insinuate that the insurgents are better armed.
“We believe strongly that the statement made by the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima that the insurgents are better armed than our military is based purely on a civilian perception of the situation at hand.
“It is clear that Governor Shettima does not have the expertise to categorize or classify the effectiveness of any weapon.
“We state categorically that the Nigerian military is one of the best equipped in Africa and that in 2014, the Federal Government made budgetary provision in excess of N1 trillion for the military and other security agencies, an amount, which is about 22 percent of our entire national budget for this year.
“This definitely belies the suggestion in certain quarters that the Federal Government is not doing the needful in prosecuting this war.”
He called on Nigerians to boost and not dampen the morale of the Armed forces.
“The Nigerian military and security agencies have taken up this challenge and like every facet of this struggle will put an end to these incursions in the shortest possible time.
“Therefore, the morale of troops engaged in this war is high and ought not to be dampened by unsavory and certainly untrue comments of low motivation.
“We enjoin all our national leaders and stakeholders across political and religious divides to close ranks with government and our valiant troops defending our territorial integrity and support the Federal Government to route out the scourging menace of insurgency rather than speaking at cross purposes.
“We want to reassure Nigerians and members of the international community that though it is in the character of insurgents to create maximum fear, their sporadic attacks on soft targets is being contained and will be halted.
“We state authoritatively without any fear or equivocation whatsoever, that Nigeria is already winning the war against terror and the activities of the insurgents will be terminated within the shortest possible time”, Okupe said.