Boko Haram: US says FG should reach out to ‘poor’ No

The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria said yesterday his nation is offering support for the West African country’s fight against Boko Haram, but ruled out sending troops into a region vital to American oil supplies.
Ambassador Terence P. McCulley said the U.S. encourages Nigeria to reach out to residents in its desperately poor Muslim north while using security forces to target and apprehend terrorists.

He said the U.S. is also considering opening a consulate in Kano, the biggest city in Nigeria’s north, to burnish America’s own image among a people still suspicious about Western influence.

However, he was unequivocal when asked in an interview with The Associated Press whether U.S. troops should be deployed in Nigeria.

“That’s not on the table,” McCulley said. “No, absolutely not.”

Nigeria, a multi-ethnic nation of more than 160 million people, is under increasing attack from members of a sect known as Boko Haram. This year, the sect is blamed for killing at least 304 people, according to an AP count. At least 185 people died in Kano last month in the group’s deadliest assault yet.

Nigeria’s central government appears unable to stop Boko Haram, which analysts and diplomats believe has splintered and made contacts with two other al-Qaida-linked groups in Africa.

“It’s of a great concern to us,” McCulley said. “We’ve seen an increase in sophistication; we’ve seen increased lethality. We saw at least a part of the group has decided it’s in their interest to attack the international community.”

The U.S. is working with Nigeria’s police to help them learn how to carry out forensic investigations, while a bomb expert from the FBI has been working with authorities on how to detect explosives planted by the group before they detonate, McCulley said. The U.S. also would be open to training Nigeria’s military in counter-terror techniques, though the country hasn’t asked for that assistance, the ambassador said.

“It’s not going to be solved exclusively by treating it as a security issue,” McCulley said. “It needs a holistic solution. Government needs clearly to have a targeted approach on security that targets the bad guys, that targets perpetrators of these horrible attacks and doesn’t injure innocent civilians or damage property.”

Intelligence-gathering also remains a concern for the U.S. in Nigeria, especially after a failure by American authorities to take seriously a warning about Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab before he boarded a U.S.-bound flight that he attempted to bring down with a bomb in 2009. While McCulley declined to give details, he said that “adequate systems” were now in place to receive such warnings and that the U.S. maintained “robust relations” with Nigerian intelligence agencies.

The current unrest has not affected oil production in Nigeria, an OPEC nation. Nigeria now produces about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, with much of it shipped to the U.S. However, China has shown an increased interest in Nigeria in recent years, taking part in large-scale public projects as it expands its economic reach into the nation’s crude-rich Niger Delta.

However, McCulley said he had no worries about Chinese influence in the country.

“We believe in , competition,” the ambassador said. “My own personal feeling is there’s a level playing field and the U.S. investors or the U.S. business is going to do very well against any competition.”source:dailytrust.com

[size=16pt]EFCC AND AUDITORS SHOULD BEAM THEIR LIGHTS HOLLISTICALLY AT WHAT NORTHERN GOVERNORS ARE DOING WITH THE GRANTS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERMENT.


1. SPONSORING HAJJS IS DRAIN IN ANY COUNTRIES RESOURCES, THIS LARGESSE WHICH IS WILDLY PRACTISED IN THE NORTH AND NIGERIA NEEDS A RE-THINK, THIS IS MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN.


2. YUGUDA'S 900 SPECIAL ASSISTANT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. BIG SCAM I MUST SAY!!!


3. BORNO STATE IS PERPETUALLY A WAR ZONE, WHY IS THE FG STILL GIVING THE GOVERNOR GRANTS AND SECURITY VOTES WHEN IT IS CLEAR THERE CAN NEVER BE ANY DEVELOPMENT IN A WAR ZONE. WE DO NOT NEED TO LOOK TOO DEEP AT CONTEMPORARY HISTORY TO ASCERTAIN THIS FACT, AFGANISTAN AND IRAQ ARE SHINNING EXAMPLES OF WAR ZONE==NO DEVELOPMENT.


4. A ONE YEAR DRAWING A PENSION DOES NOT SPEAK WELL FOR THE NORTH IN ZAMFARA STATE


5. AND NEITHER DOES A SECURITY OFFICER OR GATE MAN GETTING PAID N6MILLION A MONTH GIVES ONE ANY HOPE.


7. WHAT OF THE ISLMAIC POLICE ESTABLISHED IN KANO, HOW ARE THEY FUNDED, THIS IS A DRAIN AND A DUPLICITY AT BEST SINCE WE ALREADY HAVE A POLICE FORCE.


8. IS IT TRUE SHEKARAU FORMER GOVERNOR OF KANO STATE SPENT 9 BILLION ON HOTELS, THIS ANOTHER "MONEY MISS ROAD MISADVENTURE IN THE NORTH"


9. WHAT HAS JONAH JANG ACHIEVE IN PLATEU STATE OTHER THAN STRIPPING MUSLIMS OFF THEIR RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP


10. LET THE NORTH BORROW A LEAF FROM SOME OF THE INNER THINKINGS OF ROCHAS - HIS HAND OF GOD, DIATRIBE IS A MUST READ BY ALL GOVERNORS IN NIGERIA.


11. THE SHINNING STAR IN THAT GLOOMY WASTE SAVANNAH SEEMS TO BE THE JIGAWA GOVERNOR. SOMETHING SUURPRISING THUS , NO BOKO HARAM ATTACK IN JIGAWA STATE, THE ANSWER TO THIS IS, "THE MAN IS WORKING FOR HIS PEOPLE". NORTHERNERS CAN BORROW A LEAF FROM HIM TOO. [/size]