Amosu: Jonathan Has Shown More Commitment to Ending Insurgency than His Ambition

06 Mar 2015 Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, on Thursday in Abuja commended President Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to tackling insurgency in the North-east, saying the president had shown greater commitments to ending the menace than his re-election bid. Speaking while defending the budget of Nigeria Air Force before the Senate Committee on Defence (Airforce) yesterday, Amosu said military operations in the North-east had totally destroyed Boko Haram stronghold by damaging its command and control in the area. Amosu also praised the collaborative efforts of the neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroun, Benin Republic and Niger in the fight against the insurgents, saying the bilateral cooperation between Nigerian soldiers and the countries had boosted the capacity of the nation’s security forces. The neighbouring countries, he said, had blocked the terrorists’ escape root to their countries. He said: “On the 15th of February, we were in Lagos to harmonise equipment with the ammunition system. It was very clear that we were commencing a major offensive which was very quick for me to release information that we were going to storm the North-east. We are going to storm the Sambisa Forest. Since 15th, if you notice, there has not been any major offensive from the Boko Haram terrorists. It is very clear that by our efforts, we have been able to disrupt their communication lines. The command and control is substantially damaged. “Again, their ability to plan is not there. We have also been able to destroy their training stations. So, the issue of regeneration is out of it. We are lucky again to have our neighbours who have agreed to work with us. That has given us huge comfort because when they cannot run away to the neighbouring countries, we are sure that we are going to contain them here, and it will be easy to take them down. So far, we are happy and satisfied with what is going on. “And I am happy to announce to you that we are getting a lot of cooperation from the citizens. We are getting valuable intelligence from the citizens. We just want to encourage them to keep it up because this is our country and we have no other country to go to. These are people coming from outside the country to attempt to destabilise our country. “I want to use this opportunity to acknowledge fully the support of Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. For me, this is a personal opinion, he has given more effort to security than even his politics. So, we are happy with him,” he stated. In his reaction, Chairman, Senate Committee on Airforce, Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali, said the primary responsibility of the government was to protect lives and property as he assured the Airforce that he would do everything within his power to ensure that the outfit is well funded. “You see, as it is enshrined in the constitution of this country, it is the cardinal responsibility of government to protect lives and property. So, despite that there is a challenge in our revenue, we have to prioritise the little that we have, to make sure that this country is protected. So, I am going to take it up with the Committee on Appropriation when I go to submit my report and make sure that they get more funding. “So, I strongly suggest that we have an integrated budgetary system in this country, not only for the Budget Office to sit down and prepare the budget. The ministries, departments and agencies alongside the National Assembly and the Budget Office need to prepare the budget together so that they come up with a comprehensive budget that will satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of our citizens,” he said. http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/amosu-jonathan-has-shown-more-commitment-to-ending-insurgency-than-his-ambition/203404/