President Muhammadu Buhari has said those agitating for the division of the country should have a rethink, warning that they should not underrate the capability of the Federal Government to preserve and defend the territorial integrity of the country.
Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the graduation ceremony of the Senior Executive Course 37 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, near Jos, Plateau State on Saturday, said the Presidency would not fold its arms and allow anyone to plunge the country into crisis.
He said, “Government would not fold its arms and watch, while some individuals and groups create unnecessary tension in the country in the guise of seeking to break away from Nigeria.
He said, “We need to build the civic capacity to defeat the false and dangerous premises and assumption of violent extremism. Never again should we allow mindless violence inspired by false and evil precepts to threaten our national security.”
The President, while reiterating the determination of his administration to end all forms of terrorism in the country, said, “Let me again call on persons or group in the country who have some grievances or disaffection to submit to peaceful and democratic means of expressing themselves.”
He said the military had gradually degraded the ability of Boko Haram to hold the country to ransom.
He added, “Let me reiterate that Boko Haram terrorism as well as their ideology will soon be defeated and consigned to the dust bin of history.”
Buhari said the more crucial task confronting his administration was the task of defeating the false and evil ideology of violence extremism.
He admitted that there were educational setbacks in the country but said his administration would tackle the challenges in the education sector as a means of ensuring better future for Nigeria’s younger generation.
He said, “While accepting that our educational system is in a dangerously parlous state, the solutions are obvious, even if not easy. We have to focus on early child education, retrain teachers, ensure that our curricular will prepare our children for the 21st century.”
Buhari charged the institute to come up with a set of proposals for the comprehensive study of the scourges, with a view to forestalling future occurrence.
The President said, “As this government is already doing, we need to ensure that policy is always rooted in the needs and conditions of the millions of our people who are extremely poor and who do not stand a chance. If we continue to drive policy only on GDP figures without attention to job creation, poverty reduction and opportunities created for the majority to live decently.”
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