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by Eniola Akinkuotu
Dr. Doyin Okupe
The
Presidency has explained why it has been slow to rescue the over 200
schoolgirls that were abducted by terrorists in Chibok, Borno State over
100 days ago.
While speaking at Chatham House lecture
series held at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London,
the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr.
Doyin Okupe, said “the need to avoid a repeat of the 2004 experience
when 300 children were killed in an attempt by Russians to free hostages
held by Chechens in the North Caucasus region of Russia was responsible
for the seemingly slow process of freeing the Chibok girls.”
Okupe, who spoke on the topic titled,
“Priorities and Progress in Nigeria: Imperatives for stability and
Growth,” on Thursday, said the military and other security agencies as
well as their international allies are capable of rescuing the kidnapped
girls from their abductors but would rather weigh all options to ensure
that they were brought back alive.
The presidential aide described tackling
the current insecurity in the North-East as the priority of the Federal
Government and lamented that the various acts of insurgency were slowing
down growth in other equally important sectors of the economy.
He said, “We are taking advantage of the
offers from our international military and intelligence allies to get a
greater understanding of the landscape and identify key locations. We
are working with our neighbours to secure the borders and limit the
movements of the Boko Haram fighters, building on the agreements reached
at the recent summits in Paris and London.”
He added that government was also working on blocking domestic and international sources of funds for the insurgents group.
Speaking further, Okupe maintained that
since Nigeria attained independence, no administration had done as much
as the Jonathan administration in guaranteeing food sufficiency, better
power output, effective transport and economic stability.
He said, “Consequent upon the faithful
implementation of the transformation agenda, by the end of 2013,
Nigeria’s non-oil exports had increased tenfold over two years, reaching
almost $3bn from $276m in 2011. Nigeria is once again the world’s
largest producer of cassava, a major raw material in the European and
Asiatic food markets, and also accounted for thirty six per cent of the
total global cocoa exports in 2013.”
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