#Hope2015 issue: Presidency Deride Atiku over insurgency claims

THE Presidency on Tuesday responded to assertion by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who claimed at a press conference a day earlier that insurgency continues to thrive in the North-East because of the failure of political and military leadership.          
Atiku had observed that not a single inch of lost territory has been recovered from Boko Haram insurgents in the last five years and wondered how this administration could therefore win the war on terrorism and protect the people.
Atiku had said: “Can you imagine a whole country like Nigeria with its armed forces, not one inch of territory has been recovered from the terrorists. So, how can you now convince me that this government has the capacity to recover an inch if in the last five years they have not recovered one inch of lost territory.”
However, speaking in Abuja during a forum organised to showcase the achievements of four years of the Jonathan-led administration, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, accused the former vice president of trying to make a mileage from the insurgency.
He said as somebody who knows the workings of government, Atiku’s denigration of the presidency and the military was regrettable, saying, “it is obvious that people are also trying to make mileage of insurgency.
The presidential aide remarked that while there are ongoing challenges, the government was doing its best to tackle them, expressing confidence that the various crises would soon be resolved.
Meanwhile, the Turaki Vanguard has noted that at this critical stage in Nigeria’s history, trading insults is a waste of time rather “we should deploy efforts on how to recover our lost territories.”
The Vanguard stated: “for the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria has so far lost a total of 16 local government areas to Boko Haram: Nine in Bornu, two in Yobe and five in Adamawa states.  The total landmass occupied is the equivalent of three states of the federation.   
“As Atiku pointed out during the world press conference, President Goodluck Jonathan cannot possibly want to go down in history as the only Nigerian Commander-in-Chief to have ever lost territory to terrorists.  He still has a chance to redeem his legacy. The territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is at stake and must be restored.
“At a time like this, when Nigeria is not engaged in any international war, thousands of our people are internally displaced while thousands more are refugees in neighbouring countries.  Even many top Federal Government officials can no longer return to their homes.”
“Madagali, hometown of Governors Ngilari and Fintiri of Adamawa has fallen to terrorists.  Gulak, the hometown of President Jonathan’s onetime political adviser has also been taken. As well as Michika, which is home to the largest number of military generals in Adamawa after Numan. Two former governors of Adamawa also come from this area - Boni Haruna and Saleh Michika. And particularly of interest is Mubi, which is the hometown of Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh. His palatial mansion in Vimtim village was crushed and reduced to rubble.” #Nigeriadecides