President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that his administration will do its best to defeat the Boko Haram menace soon, describing the terrorist sect as a temporary challenge. The President also stated that he would continue to work to improve the quality of life of Nigerians.
He made the remarks at the Church of Christ in Nations, Garki, Abuja, during the first Sunday service of the year.
The President said, “Boko Haram insurgency is a temporary challenge. Boko Haram will surely go. We will do all our best to ensure it becomes a thing of the past very soon. A number of countries have faced similar challenges and they have been able to overcome them. We will surely overcome Boko Haram.
“Life in the North must change. Development must go to all parts of this country and nobody or group can hold this country to ransom.
“We will collectively liberate this country from the hands of any evil person that is trying to set us backward. We will do our best and build a country that our children and our grandchildren will be proud of.”
He assured Nigerians that he would improve their lives but said development took time and did not happen overnight.
The President said, “Let me reassure you that we will continue to work harder and harder to improve the quality of lives of Nigerians. But you must know that this cannot be achieved overnight. I always say that and sometimes I am always misquoted when I say we cannot achieve this overnight.
“Even if you go and plant a crop, it takes a period of time before you start seeing the fruits. I always tell people that if you have all the money in this world today to erect even a simple two-storey building, it must take some time .
“In fact, we are building one small mini/private banquet hall for the President in the State House because we don’t have that kind of small place to entertain 50 to 100 people. This is the only President that does not have that kind of facility.
“We called a company like Julius Berger, I thought that they could build it in six months but they gave me two years.
“So that is development for you but we are committed. We know we have our challenges, especially in some parts of the North. I am quite pleased with the message we got from the outgoing President of this church and the incoming President about Boko Haram. We express our sympathy with the widows of those whose husbands were caught up in the bush.”