The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has blamed failure of the immediate past government to provide equipment and supplies to the military for the spread of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.
He made the statement on Thursday at the graduation of Cadets of 63rd Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna.
Osinbajo, who was the special guest at the graduation, said that the failure resulted to the death of over 20, 000 people with over two million displaced and more than 75, 000 children orphaned.
He expressed regret that several billions of dollars meant for procurement of arms and ammunition to prosecute the war were cornered by few persons.
“This has left the region with one of the worst humanitarian crisis,’’ he added.
The VP commended the military for defeating the terrorists and for the sacrifices it made to defend the nation.
He said that the fastest way for Nigeria to get out of the current recession was for militant groups in the Niger Delta to stop bombing oil pipelines.
He said that the activities of the militants had adversely affected crude oil output which had dropped from 2.2 million barrels per day to below 1 million barrels per day.
Osinbajo said the destruction had also affected the revenue accruing to the country by 60 per cent.
While comparing the 2008/2009 recession in United States with Nigeria’s, the VP said Nigeria’s recession was caused by massive corruption, lack of saving and destruction of oil pipelines.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 133 cadets, including 17 female cadets, were for the first time awarded first degree certificates in various discipline at the occasion.
One hundred and twenty seven (127) cadets were awarded master’s degree while 14 cadets bagged doctorate degree.
Three prominent Nigerians, Prof. Grace Alele-Willaims, former Vice Chancellor, Uniben; Maj.-Gen. Paul Tarfa (rtd), ex-military Administrator of Old Oyo state and business mongul, Dr Innocent Chukwuma, were conferred with honorary doctorate degree. (NAN)