The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, on Monday night held what the government called an extraordinary security meeting to discuss the worsening security situation in the state.



At the meeting, the governor admitted that the security situation in the troubled state was getting worse of recent. He, however, said he could not blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the situation unlike how he blamed ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.



The meeting was convened by the state government on the heels of recent coordinated attacks and capture of territories, including military formations, by Boko Haram insurgents.



Though the military has repeatedly denied claims that communities and soldiers have been dislodged by the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents, people in their hundreds have, since last week, been fleeing their homes into Maiduguri, the state capital.





The influx of men, women and children into Maiduguri, as well as reports of many dying on the way, have triggered tension in the state with concerns among citizens calling for drastic action to be taken by the government.



It was based on this that Mr Shettima convened the Monday night security meeting that involved almost all sectors, including security agencies, the media and legal practitioners.



Mr Shettima delivered a lengthy remark at the opening of the meeting that held at the multipurpose hall of Government House, Maiduguri, detailing why the security meeting was expedient.



He specifically admonished the attendees not to engage in blame games over the perceived failure of the soldiers which he said would be unfair giving the enormous sacrifices they have made in the last seven years.



He also explained why he refused to condemn President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the Boko Haram crisis.



“…unlike in previous years when I was treated as an enemy of the Presidency, I have from 2015 to date, gained unfettered access to the President,” Mr Shettima said.



The late night security meeting was the first of its kind that had representatives of many groups and associations including traditional rulers.



After the initial remarks by the governor, journalists were told to leave the meeting and not to expect a communique. The other attendees went into a closed-door session to deliberate and fashion out counter strategies of tackling the Boko Haram resurgence.



Read Mr Shettima’s full speech below:



“Your royal highnesses and our elders, I will like to start by saying that the aim of convening this important meeting is not to pass blames or to pass any kind of verdict on our security agencies.



“I think the most inhuman way to go is to gather and condemn those who are putting their lives on the line and giving their lives in efforts to find peace. ‎



“We are principally here as a family, as a people all affected by the situation in Borno State, to discuss suggestions that will hopefully contribute to combined ongoing efforts towards addressing the problem.



“For seven years, we held our regular security council meetings. I from to time consult with some of the participants here. However, I never for once convene an extraordinary meeting of this nature because, frankly speaking, I was avoiding a sort of dramatisation or being sensational about our challenges in Borno State.



“Without being insensitive to the realities of our situation, I feel deeply pained whenever Borno is being discussed on the basis of helpless weakness. I prefer to assume a position of strength; a position of normalcy and a character of being incurably optimistic. It was in these regards that we created a full-fledged Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement and deployed enormous public resources to rebuild more than 30,000 homes of citizens, hospitals, water installations, local government secretariats, schools and palaces of traditional rulers.



“It was with the same mind that we kept on pushing for voluntary and dignified return of displaced citizens to safe and rebuilt communities.



“My greatest wish was and still is, not to bequeath Boko Haram challenges and IDP Camps to my successor. We wanted to, and still want to get Borno fully back to normal days. Sometimes, I unconsciously find myself boasting that Borno is safer than Lagos. I simply feel very bad to sound pessimistic about Borno. I so much believe in optimism.



“Of course, I know that in governance, responding to some situations demand a combination of being both optimistic and realistic.



“The realities, Your Royal Highnesses, invited participants, is that while so much was achieved by our gallant military men and women, we are today faced with serious challenges in Borno State. But then, these challenges should strengthen our abiding faith and resolve to continually do whatever we can, in support of our military, the police, the DSS, our Civilian JTF, all para-military agencies and political authorities at the federal level, to end the Boko Haram insurgency.



“I have met the President a number of times, including few weeks ago. I have led our national assembly members to the president and in all our discussions, we all saw on the face, in words and actions of the President, absolute sincerity in terms of his deep concern, his empathy and his compassion towards our plight in the northeast, particularly in Borno.



“President Muhammadu Buhari is without the slightest doubt, devoted to the fight against Boko Haram. I believe that service chiefs, the IGP, the DG of DSS and heads of all para-military agencies share the commitment of Mr President.



“Most importantly, troops in the front lines, have with their own lives, proved their commitment in the service of our country and in obedience to the President, Commander In Chief. The President has mobilised world leaders in support of Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram. He has fostered regional cooperation and he supports troops.



“Some persons have asked why I have not criticised the Buhari government or the Nigerian military over situations in Borno. My response to them is that unlike in previous years when I was treated as an enemy of the Presidency, I have from 2015 to date, gained unfettered access to the President. I see the Commander-In-Chief at the shortest request and I tell him my concerns, he listens to me with keen interest and in most cases, he takes measures. I have not had reason to be frustrated with the Presidency, unlike previous years.



“Let me say that even under the previous administration, I regularly supported and defended the military. When I said in February 2014, that the military was not being well equipped, it was not a comment by design, it was a spontaneous reaction which came out of frustration and it was in defence of the soldiers being killed in front lines. I knew the problems.

Some people have said I was later vindicated. Nigerians can bear witness that from 2011 to date, I prefer to speak from a position of strength rather than a position of hopelessness.



“I prefer to inspire our military and citizens. I prefer to make security matters as discrete as possible. There were times I managed to see the former President but our meetings were always under rush. There were times I resorted to writing him for the record. I remember one specific instance I wrote a strong letter in 2013, over serious concerns raised by the Nigerian Air Force command in Borno State, and I have to admit that President Jonathan took immediate measures on that.



“As a state government, we have done and will continue to do everything humanly possible in support of the fight against Boko Haram. We have given very serious financial, moral and political support to the counter-insurgency. All security agencies and the federal government (including the previous Jonathan administration) have strongly acknowledged the role of the Civilian JTF in the successes recorded by the military.



“From 2013 to date, Borno State Government has been solely responsible for funding the Civilian JTF in terms of their training, their allowances, deployment, operational vehicles and their kits. We will continue to support the Civilian JTF, our military, the police and all other security agencies. We have secretly been engaging hunters in some areas without making noise. We believe security of lives is what makes government legitimate.



“Your royal highnesses, invited participants, everyone here has been playing one or more roles in the fight against Boko Haram. This fight is a collective one that affects all of us. We all have stakes in the peace and stability of Borno and this is why we chose to hold an extraordinary security meeting with carefully chosen participants. There are many important stakeholders that were not invited and it is not because they do not matter but because we wanted to minimize our number. We deliberately did not invite persons on individual basis in order to prevent perceptions or feelings of alienation. Even as this gathering is constituted, it is too large from a security point of view. Nevertheless, we are at a point in which we needed to convene a meeting of this nature so as to form a broader and more inclusive platform to listen to each other, to hopefully generate some new ideas.



“To chart a new course and to also rebuild public confidence. Leadership requires building and nurturing the hopes of citizens. Times like ours require all of us raising the hopes of citizens, but these hopes should not be blind ones. They should be based on the measures we take.



“Their Royal Highnesses are permanent leaders and custodians of our communities. We politicians come and go, royal fathers do not have tenure of office. Our elders here are the conscience of our communities. They stood for Borno when it was impossible to move freely in our state capital.



“Our national and state assembly members are representatives of our people. I do not think it is wise to see security as purely an executive thing. I believe in productive and strategic cooperation. We all need ourselves to move faster. The legislature is sometimes the most authoritative in relating with organs of the Federal Government.



“All the groups we invited have roles to play. We need the buy-in and ideas of the NLC, whose members have been victims in different places attacked. We need the NBA whose lawyers deal with issues of public rights including being defendants of suspects under prosecution and who should guide us. We need our retired military elders in the Nigerian Legion whose experiences of yesterday can be a benefit to this gathering. We invited journalists. We need the NUJ leadership to as stakeholders, help us manage information in ways that will help the state and not destabilize it.



“I have in the course of work realized that the best way to relate with journalists is to sometimes take them into confidence. We invited unions of transport and road workers whose hundreds of members move around the state and have come across different security situations. They see so much on the roads. We invited representatives of our tertiary institutions, religious leaders and management of markets for us to think ahead of insurgents. Knowing the Boko Haram, they may send our minds to the north while planning to head the south.



“We need to strengthen security measures in schools, mosques and churches, markets and all public places across Borno State. We should not be taken unawares. We invited the council on women societies because women and our children constitute the largest number of traumatized and displaced victims of the Boko Haram insurgency. They bear the brunt.



“Your royal highnesses, elders, national and state assembly members, heads of security establishments, members of the state executive council, chairmen, representatives of various groups, I will like to appeal to all of us that our meeting should not be driven by emotions. We should speak with logic. We should see all of here as stakeholders with genuine interest in the peace and security of Borno. We should speak with mutual respect and with trust in the sincerity of each other. Our focus should largely be about finding solutions. We all know the situation of things. Let us as a family with equal stakes, suggest solutions that will insha’Allah, contribute to addressing our problems.



“I wish us a meaningful meeting and not a tea party. I will at this point thank and request our friends in the media to allow us hold a closed-door meeting. I will like to say also that we are not issuing a communique. Whatever we resolve will be transmitted to the President, Commander In Chief in writing and not for public consumption.”










Source: http://www.nigerianeye.com/2019/01/boko-haram-why-i-havent-criticised.html

What do you think?

Some useless organization in US has claim that the reason why the fight against Book haram is yet won is because of the corruption in the military But I said if that is the reason why shall we go back to the people that created the boko haram and corruption in this same military. Never shall we return to Egypt.

Next level

How long can we continue pretending to be one. This same Governor that was so loud under GEJs government has suddenly gone mute because his own is now the President, despite the fact that under the dullard, his dear state has suffered attacks like never before (his words).

Keep blaming the past administration while bokoharam keeps gaining territory and keeps advancing closer to the capital. I only Pity the poor innocent citizens of Borno state. They will be the ones to suffer the fate their clueless and lazy leaders have designed by joking with their lives and security.

useless APC terrorist hypocrite

How do you expect the army who are reluctant to act against herdsmen to act against Boko Haram? Have you seen any APC leaders or their appointees condemn herdsmen and now Boko Haram?

They are observing the body language of the C-in-C and are careful not to offend him. Remember, they once threatened to report Ihejirika to ICC and accused Jonathan of killing Boko Haram to reduce the population of the North.

The truth is that the army is consciously not attacking Boko Haram same way they look away on the atrocities of the herdsmen.

This APC people have no shame. but God will disgrace them.
I will not be surprised to see Borno with all the security challenges we come out
and tell us that 5m people voted for buhari.

The North will destroy itself. all these are not for nothing.
God will will use North to destroy north if they keep behaving this way

They thought that by betraying GEJ and empowering boko haram to unleash mayhems on Nigerians so as to make him look incompetent and clueless. Now, that the monster they created is consuming them, they have no option than to be consumed by it

BUHARI ADMINISTRATION DEY PAIN EVERY NIGERIAN EVEN YOU WEY DE TYPE BROTHER, WE NEED TO TRY SOMEONE ELSE BUHARI HAS BEEN TESTED AND FAILED ATIKU HAS BRAIN TO TURN OUR ECONOMY AROUND, WHO KNOWS HE MIGHT DO BETTER THAN OTHER PAST PRESIDENT, NIGERIANS HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF BUHARI'S FAKE INTEGRITY
SAI ATIKUOBI WE KNOW











SAI ATIKUOBI WE LOVE

If Nigerians should tell themselves the Truth buhari should have been impeached since because he has committed Many impeachable offense
If Nigerians should tell themselves the truth buhari and APC by now shouldn't be talking about re-election
8yrs is not a must for any political office holder if you fail in your first term byebye let's try another person
If Atiku wins or any party presidential candidate wins and still messed up 2023 we show him the way out
Let's join hands and make this political office holders understand that 4yrs is enough to archive great deals
Hypocrisy is when Ambode was denied second term because he didn't perform and those same people who denied him of second term are still the same people singing buhari praise him who failed in every aspect
Until when Nigerians are ready to tell themselves the truth

Useless almajiri governor. Because it's your turn now, the fight cannot be criticized again... Mumu.

I really don't expect you to blame your lifeless,directionless,daft antique that you call President,simply because you are a northerner,you did everything to undermine the Jonathan efforts to return peace to your state just so that a northerner will win the election and made Jonathan look like he was losing the battle,even when he tried to satisfy the norther elite,all his efforts was rubbish just for been a Christian from the south

Pls in all honesty,is mr lifeless doing any better?
The simple answer is no,he's been a colossal failure in all fronts,but you won't blame him
For a simple fact that he's a Muslim from the North,so he can't do no wrong,or he's trying his best
I just hope Nigeria youth can for once get this right this time,you'd all be surprised that gigantic and senseless corruption going down under this "integrity"government,through the military.
They are busy sacrificing our young men for their selfish gain,I once use sentiment to vote for this failure,pls Nigeria youth let unite against nepotism,tribalism and paddy paddy govt

I keep telling people that northern Governors refuse to respect and support Jonathan simply because he not from the North.
We are so divided in this country we don't need to pretend anymore.
This Governor should cover his face in shame because he frustrated GEJ's efforts to rescue the Chibok girls just to paint him black.
NOW he is faced with the reality and he said he won't blame anybody for the present situation.

I PRAY THAT I WITNESS WHEN THIS COUNTRY WILL BE DIVIDED

No, all these are excuses.....

You are simply an hypocrites like most of APC supporters who always are afraid of talking sense into the president head.

You are actually making him think he his doing the right thing by not telling him what's going on ground.

Kashim it is because you are a dumb abooki like him dumbohari too. So spare us your balderdash.

Imagine the governor even lying that he has more access to buhari than jona when it was jona that did all in his power to liberate them.

Mankos:
Some useless organization in US has claim that the reason why the fight against Book haram is yet won is because of the corruption in the military But I said if that is the reason why shall we go back to the people that created the boko haram and corruption in this same military. Never shall we return to Egypt.

Next level

. What did you put up their nothing ,what did you know, nothing.

Mysteryque:
What do you think?

Untill Shettima leaves and PDP regains Bornu, Boko Haram will never be defeated. The recent successes of BokoHaram is to pave way for more looting. Anytime BokoHaram attacks a military location, the airforce bombard the armoury. Meaning you need to procure more arms. Who gains? Army chiefs and government. How? Army procures new armament to restock. Bornu govt gets more money for IDP resettlement. This is just a game to siphon our commonwealth.
We need new faces in Bornu and Yobe. Secondly, a new set of military leadership. Then this madness will end.

I wish Jonathan wasn't so soft. Dumb goats like this useless governor would have smelt their nyashes.

Mankos:
Some useless organization in US has claim that the reason why the fight against Book haram is yet won is because of the corruption in the military But I said if that is the reason why shall we go back to the people that created the boko haram and corruption in this same military. Never shall we return to Egypt.

Next level

Continue lying to yourself

Buhari has nothing to offer

He promised to eliminate Boko Haram in two months but here we are.. Blame games continue as people die everyday...

If you can't hold your leaders accountable... Continue chasing shadows with blame games

There are more rooms for zombies in the country

wingmanII:
I wish Jonathan wasn't so soft. Dumb goats like this useless governor who have smelt their nyash.

Jonathan is a weakling... These people really showed him pepper...

Now all of them are sai barbering even when the situation is worse...

Boko Haram has come to stay under Buhari... Simply because of the lies and propaganda they share around to deceive the gullible

Comedian says he won't condemn this govt because now he is granted unfettered access. Really?
So because you can enter the villa any time you like, the worsening situation does not need to be discussed.
I get it, other things come with that access now.

“Let me say that even under the previous administration, I regularly supported and defended the military. When I said in February 2014, that the military was not being well equipped, it was not a comment by design, it was a spontaneous reaction which came out of frustration and it was in defence of the soldiers being killed in front lines. I knew the problems.

So are they equiped now?... despite the soldiers speaking now, have you still spoken for them like you claim to always have done to GEJ?

Ok

Mankos:
Some useless organization in US has claim that the reason why the fight against Book haram is yet won is because of the corruption in the military But I said if that is the reason why shall we go back to the people that created the boko haram and corruption in this same military. Never shall we return to Egypt.

Next level

I hope someday,somehow,someway..destiny will take you to borno or yobe...By that time,orie mape...just because u have not been affected doesn't mean u should be talking like a 'dindinrin'

IamJames:
Comedian says he won't condemn this govt because now he is granted unfettered access. Really?
So because you can enter the villa any time you like, the worsening situation does not need to be discussed.
I get it, other things come with that access now.

I have a colleague from Borno state and any time we discussed politics,i noticed that this is exactly his thinking.
i recall during GEJ era,this guy was not interested in any news about Nigeria,if i hear a story and tell him about it straight there he will rubbish it even before hearing the details but since Buhari entered,every thing have changed.
we are so divided and yet make pretense about it.

oderinlewo:

I hope someday,somehow,someway..destiny will take you to borno or yobe...By that time,orie mape...just because u have not been affected doesn't mean u should be talking like a 'dindinrin'

why are u too myopic, compare Borno, yobe, Adamawa of 2013 & 2014 to 2016, 2017, 2018 and tell me if there is different.

the forest was shrinking, ie(northerners were being massacred and pushed into poverty), but the trees, ie(northern poor and almajiris) keep voting for the axe, ie(buhari), because its handle was made of wood. ie(buhari being a pro sharia law northern muslim). and they thought it was one of them. ie(they thought buhari was there to represent their interest, but he's only coming back to continue killing, impoverishing and confiscating their ancestral inheritance)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvfj-G3zdOA

Nigerian soldiers grow desperate in fight against Boko Haram