I don't understand the Boko Haram phenomenon - Atiku

People's Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has said he does not understand the Boko Haram phenomenon, lamenting that despite the efforts of the Nigerian military, the insurgency has not been eliminated.

The former vice president said as much on Sunday during the People's Town Hall 2023 series airing on Channels TV which was watched by The PUNCH.

Atiku, who appeared with his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, answered questions about insecurity and was asked about his stance on Boko Haram.

He said, “I still don't understand why we should have Boko Haram. You see, I served in Borno State when it was in the northeast, and as a customs officer and I was patrolling all over the northeast, so I know the vegetation and the border areas very well. I still can't find a place in the Borno regions where anyone can hide and can't be seen. I honestly can't understand the Boko Haram phenomenon.

"Sometimes coming back from Europe, 30 feet above, I could see a man walking in Borno State, so where is the place to hide? As far as where they say there is a place called Sambisa forest. I've been there. I haven't seen any forest. It's just shrubs here and there.

"So we deployed the Nigerian army which was one of the best in the world. They fought, you know, a number of international arenas and they excelled and here we have them deployed with their power and everything and we just couldn't eliminate Boko Haram, so I'm puzzled, so maybe when I get there I'll understand, but honestly, I don't understand the Boko Haram phenomenon.

"It's all there. Politics is there, business is there, security, everything. Of course, the solution is leadership, strong leadership to deal with all these interest groups inside the army and outside the army. »

Asked about his stance on militancy should he return to the PDP administration, Okowa said that with proper leadership, there would be no recurrence of such militancy in South-South.

He said, "I believe that once you provide the necessary governance, militancy is unlikely to return. First you need to ask yourself what led to this. People felt ignored. People felt excluded from the governors, they did not see the infrastructure. Their children have not found the space to be properly educated, to have access to justice."

Atiku also disclosed plans to remove subsidies and negotiate with relevant stakeholders to provide palliatives for citizens.

He said: "I have already announced that we will remove the subsidies and then of course negotiate with all stakeholders on how we can establish workarounds to remove the subsidies.

“Whether or not we decide to remove the subsidies, based on the Petroleum Industry Act, by June next year, the subsidies will have to end and that is the law that was passed by the National Assembly. But as early as last election season, I announced that I was going to cut the subsidies.

“When I was vice-president, we had to eliminate subsidies in four stages. As Chairman of the Economic Council, I oversaw and implemented phase one and phase two. By the time we got to phase three, he was suspended. If we had opted for this program, when we left office, there would have been no more subsidies that a government could have inherited. »

For its part, Okowa said the removal of subsidies would provide funds to the education and health sectors.

“Education suffers, health services suffer. These two areas are very critical for the vast majority of Nigerians who live in the poverty zone.

"And it is important that we start freeing up funds to solve education problems and to solve health problems so that we can help a large majority of our people and provide education to our children and ours to ensure that we are able to develop every Nigerian to such a point that they can compete freely for themselves and be able to take care of themselves,” he said .

In his response to the question on how he would tackle the currency shortage, Atiku said, "I would ask the Central Bank to stop multiple exchanges so that we fill the gap. gap.

"And then, of course, secondly, how can we also encourage foreign investors to import foreign currency from abroad? I think that's very important in terms of this challenge. So basically if you can do that, then you'll make it available as much as possible.

"For most industries or factories, we will first make sure there is only one exchange rate, not multiple exchange rates like we have. currently have, because the multiple exchange rate regime is corrupt and the people who desire the change so I t...