The Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan spoke for the team and the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari representing President Muhammadu Buhari presented a joint message, on behalf of the President, the government, and the people of Nigeria to the Governor, the Shehu of Borno, and the bereaved Zabarmari community, describing the massacre of the farmworkers as the worst form of “senseless, barbaric and gruesome murder.”

In the message, President Buhari expressed the condolences of the government and people of Nigeria and gave strong assurances of his continuous commitment to fighting insurgency and all forms of insecurity in Borno State and all over Nigeria.

The President committed himself to make more resources available to the military to prosecute the war, adding that he will “work closely with neighboring countries on bilateral and multilateral levels to ensure that there is no hiding place for the terrorists.

“Nothing is more important than ensuring the security of lives and property of the people. Everything is secondary when security is at a stake.

“As we mourn the loss of our sons in Zabarmari, the Armed Forces have been given the marching order to take the fight to the insurgents, not on a one-off, but on a continuous basis until we root out the terrorists,” said the President.

President Buhari commended Governor Babagana Zulum for his leadership in running the affairs of the state.

In his response, Governor Zulum thanked the President for “ensuring relative peace since his assumption of office,” stating clearly that the situation is much better than he met it.

The Governor presented a number of requests on behalf of his people, including that the youths of the state should be enlisted in military and paramilitary organizations to play their roles in the defense of the nation.

He called on the FG to assist in the repatriation of Borno indigenes in camps in neighboring countries & requested the Nat’l Assembly to tweak the draft budget now before them to allow better allocation of resources for the N-East sub-region, which he alleged is being side-lined.

At the palace of the Shehu of Borno, His Eminence Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai, the traditional ruler described as “madness,” the gruesome killings and urged his subjects to pray and offer useful information to the security agencies.

He thanked President Buhari for his efforts in returning normalcy to the state.

“Before this administration came, all 27 local councils and the Emirs had migrated to Maiduguri. We had no power from the National Grid, Telephone services were discontinued and the airport was closed,” he said, commending the President for changing all that for the better.

The delegation was also in Zabarmari, Jere Local Government where the incident took place.

The local Imam, Alhaji Idris who responded on behalf of the community said they were touched by the President’s gesture, saying, “we are happy that the President is with us in our moment of grief. Tell him that we are very happy with him.”

Aside from the Senate President and Chief of Staff to the President, the delegation included the House Majority Whip, Tahir Monguno, the Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammed Musa Bello, Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Minister of Agriculture (State), Mustapha Shehuri and Works and Housing (State), Engineer Abubakar Aliyu.

Others are National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, said: “Buhari came into office at a time that a swathe of the country’s territory was under occupation, a period when many Nigerian towns and cities, including the capital city of Abuja, were a playground for insurgents and a moment that the nation’s wealth had been looted dry, with little or nothing to show for the nation’s huge earnings, especially
in the area of infrastructure.

Lai Mohammed said it is therefore a cruel irony that those who frittered away a great opportunity to put Nigeria on a sound socio-economic footing, at a time of financial buoyancy, and those who planted the seed of the insecurity in some parts of the country today, are the same ones pointing an accusing finger at a reformist government.

”Nigeria today faces a lot of challenges. But whatever situation the country has found itself in, things would have been much worse but for the deft management of resources, unprecedented fight against corruption, determined battle against insurgency and banditry as well as the abiding courage of Mr. President in piloting the ship of state,

”Nigeria today is not a failed state, but a nation that is courageously tackling its challenges and building a solid infrastructure that will serve as the basis for socio-economic development, a nation that is unrelenting in battling insecurity and working hard to ensure greatest prosperity for the greatest number of people,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

He said no government in the history of the country has done so much with so little, as the Buhari Administration is doing presently, adding that with 60% less national income, the Administration is making progress on all fronts and setting the country on the path of sustainable growth and development.

The Minister said while naysayers are hyping the instances of insecurity in the country, they have conveniently forgotten that the country could have been overrun by insurgents and bandits if President Buhari had not rallied regional and international allies to tackle, headlong, the Boko Haram insurgency that saw bombs going off like firecrackers before his assumption of office, and an estimated 20,000 square miles of the nation’s territory occupied by insurgents

Buhari came into office at a time that a swathe of the country’s territory was under occupation, a period when many Nigerian towns and cities, including the capital city of Abuja, were a playground for insurgents and a moment that the nation’s wealth had been looted dry, with little or nothing to show for the nation’s huge earnings, especially
in the area of infrastructure.

”They tout the downturn in economic fortunes without putting things in context. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a global shutdown and a drastic fall in global oil demand, Nigeria lost 60% of its earnings, yet the Administration has ensured that not a single worker has been retrenched, has paid salaries as and when due and has continued to build infrastructures like roads, rails, bridges and power, among others, that will serve many generations.

”They aggravate the national fault lines with their angry and unguarded actions and rhetoric, forgetting that while national fissures are amplified at a time of dwindling economic fortunes, what is needed to foster peace and unity is not reckless elocution but responsible and responsive leadership, the kind being offered by President Buhari,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said Nigeria is on the road to greatness, despite the challenges confronting the nation, citing the hard push towards food sufficiency; the modernization of the rail system; the nationwide construction of roads and bridges; the reform in the oil and gas sector; the unprecedented anti-corruption battle, the diversification of the economy and the renewed effort to ensure a steady power supply, anchored on a three-phase project that is expected to deliver 25,000MW of electricity in the next few years.

The Minister thanked Nigerians for their perseverance and understanding, especially against the backdrop of the stifling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, and appealed to them to continue to support the Administration, as it seeks to lift 100 million people out of poverty in the next 10 years.

”In one of the most difficult moments in the nation’s history, Nigeria is fortunate to have at the helm a leader who is not only dedicated, selfless and patriotic, but one who is globally acknowledged for his discipline, integrity and vision. Those who
genuinely love Nigeria will support, rather than subvert, this committed leadership,” he said.

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