The United States has urged Nigeria to tackle Boko Haram insurgency in the North by bringing jobs and development to the deprived region, and pledged to support President Goolduck Jonathan in the task.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman said yesterday that the United States was looking to establish a consulate in Kano, Nigeria’s biggest northern city and a recent target of attacks, as well as a number of other ways to help it fight Boko Haram.

The group, which styles itself on the Taliban, has been blamed for almost daily shootings and bombings that have killed hundreds of people in the past two years. “Regarding the security concern, we agree with President Jonathan that this must be holistic approach. That it is about security, it is about development, it is about jobs,” Sherman said during the first stop of an African tour that also takes in Zambia and Kenya.

“Together we will do whatever we can, from intelligence sharing, to assistance, to development, to security training.”

Some have accused Jonathan of an over-reliance on security measures to defeat Boko Haram rather than addressing northerners’ underlying grievances, such as unemployment, which provide the group with a well of eager recruits. (Reuters)


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