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| Tukur Buratai |
Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, on Monday said the search for the remaining abducted Chibok girls was still on.
He however said activities of Boko Haram have been confined to Lake Chad region and fringes of Sambisa forest.
Buratai spoke while delivering the maiden lecture of the Centre for Contemporary Security Affairs at the Igbinedion University, Okada headquarters of Ovia North East local government area.
He stated that complex security challenges like the Boko Haram activities required political and security solutions that ensure that democracies rebound stronger after a crisis.
Buratai said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has fulfilled the pledge to support the by donating the sum of $100 million.
The Army Chief said the current political leadership has demonstrated strong political will, purposeful direction and resourcing that galvanised the nation against the common enemy.
He informed the gathering that adequate resources were provided to re-kit, procure more arms and ammunition, vehicles and other logistics required to prosecute the campaign against insurgency.
According to him: โMilitary leadership invariably draws inspiration from the political leadership and this allows it develop military strategic objectives that are to be achieved
โOne of the silent but radical changes in the operations was changing the orientation and mind-set of troops from a defensive to an offensive posture. We also created the Theatre Command to coordinate the activities of the divisions involved in the operations.
โSocio-economic activities and free movement of people and goods have resumed in many areas.
โSignificant improvements can be attributed to the systematic campaign led by the NA in conjunction with other Services and elements of national power
โSuccess recorded so far is an indication that for Nigeriaโs democracy to be consolidated, the military must not only play its part but must also fulfill the constitutional roles assigned to them.โ
He assured the Army under his leadership would partner with the institution to build officersโ intellectual capacity.
Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the centre when operational would carry out research that interrogates emerging security challenges of local and global concern.
Prof. Ezemonye noted the strategy was to create a Faculty that provides knowledge based interventions for effective enforcement response, being a rich blend of academic researchers in security affairs and practitioners from the military and allied agencies.
