Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said Nigeria is witnessing a progressive decimation of terrorists and insurgents in order to secure the country.
The Minister made the remarks in Calabar at a joint press conference
with Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, during a ceremony to
mark the 2022 World Tourism Day.
He said infrastructure and adequate security are necessary for tourism
to thrive.
“I am bold to say here that in the last three months, even our worst
critics will agree that the government has gotten the handle on
security issues. In the area of insecurity, I want to assure you that
the worst is over,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He said when the situation in the country in 2015 is compared with
what obtains in 2022, there is incontrovertible evidence to support
the government’s position that the worst is over.
“It’s unfortunate that people who comment on insecurity fail to start
from where we were in 2015 and where we are today.
“In 2015, the entire North East of the country was a no-go area. When
I was appointed Minister in 2015, one of the first tasks I embarked
upon was to go with a team of foreign and local journalists to the
North East, in particular to Maiduguri, Kaure, Konduga and Bama, to
see firsthand the effect of Boko Haram insurgency
“That’s on 5th December 2015 and I needed Air Force jets to escort me
from Maiduguri to Bama, which is about 68 kilometers. Apart from our
convoy, we didn’t see any other vehicular traffic on the road. All the
houses in Bama were destroyed by Boko Haram. There were no schools in
the North East and no hospitals. Telecom services were destroyed,” the
Minister said.
He said at the moment, the North East is once again accessible because
of government’s efforts.
On the economy, Mohammed said the activities of vandals in the
Niger Delta is causing the government to lose about 700,000 barrels of
crude oil per day, thereby denying the government huge revenue and
foreign exchange.
He, however, expressed delight that the renewed deployment of technology
and the synergy between government security forces and private
security companies have achieved success in the fight against oil
bunkering.
