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Boko Haram: US Slams FG’s Response …Assures More Military Help
A top United States Defense Department official criticized Nigeria yesterday for being too slow to adapt in response to the threat of Boko Haram, but said Washington was committed to helping fight the group and safely return more than 200 girls taken from their school a month ago.
“In general Nigeria has failed to mount an effective campaign against Boko Haram,” said the Pentagon’s Principal Director for African Affairs, Alice Friend, in testimony provided to the Senate’s Africa subcommittee ahead of a hearing yesterday.
“The Department has been deeply concerned for some time by how much the Government of Nigeria has struggled to keep pace with Boko Haram’s growing capabilities,” Friend said.
Friend added that Nigerian security forces have been slow to adapt to the threat from the Islamist militant group.
“More troubling,” she said, was that atrocities have been perpetrated by some security forces during operations against the group, which means US human rights law would bar providing assistance to them.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Robert Jackson, said in his prepared testimony that Washington has been urging Nigeria to reform its approach to Boko Haram.
“When soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity, mistrust takes root,” he said.
Sixteen US Department of Defense personnel with medical, intelligence, counter-terrorism and communications expertise have been assigned exclusively to the mission of advising Nigerian efforts to recover the girls safely, Friend said.
“Our intent is to support Nigerian-led efforts to recover the girls and help catalyze greater efforts to secure the Nigerian population from the menace of Boko Haram,” Friend said.
She also said the Pentagon and Department of State were developing a “regional response” to Boko Haram to improve border security along Nigeria’s frontiers with Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The intention was to detect and respond to movement of Boko Haram members between Nigeria and its neighbours, she said.
Meanwhile, the United State National Security Adviser, Susan Rice has said that the President Barack Obama administration would not rule out providing more military help to Nigeria in locating the 200-plus girls abducted from their school dormitories a month ago by Boko Haram insurgents.
Speaking to women foreign policy leaders yesterday in Washington, Rice emphasized that the girls need to be located before any discussions of something beyond mostly advisory assistance can be held.
Rice said the administration has been “gripped” by the situation, echoing the president and first lady’s sentiment of feeling a personal connection as parents.
“For those of us who are policymakers, but also those of us who are parents, as I am, it’s just heartbreaking to imagine your teenage girl taken away and potentially at risk of being sold into captivity or worse,” Rice said.
But asked by moderator-journalist, Judy Woodruff, about calls from some members of Congress for US Special Forces to assist with the rescue, Rice said Nigeria is, first and foremost, a sovereign nation with responsibility for securing and protecting its citizens.
“To the extent that they make requests of us or others to provide support, we are open to entertaining those. But, obviously, as I said at the outset, the most important thing now is to locate the girls,” she said.
“There is no point in sending in any kind of additional support if we do not know where they are. So, that has to be the first order of business”, Rice said.
It would be recalled that Senator John McCain had a US-based newspaper on Tuesday that the United States should be ready to send in Special Forces to rescue the girls whether the Nigerian government gives permission or not.
“I would not be involved in the niceties of getting the Nigerian government to agree, because if we did rescue these people, there would be nothing but gratitude from the Nigerian government, such as it is,” the Arizona Republican said.
But while Rice would not rule out US military boots on the ground in Nigeria, she emphasized that the scenario was unlikely, even though US surveillance aircraft have provided intelligence and imagery.
“In all likelihood, if we were to do more with respect to a Nigerian request, it would likely be in advisory capacity, which is what we are doing thus far and what we could – can potentially do more of if we had better information on where the girls are located.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.