President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday rekindled the hopes of Nigerians that the terror group Boko Haram would be wrestled to the ground in the near future, promising that the blood-spilling acts of the group cannot bring Nigeria to its knees.
Mr. Jonathan, who had faced strong criticisms for jetting out of the country to attend an international Earth Summit in Brazil said that if he had refused to travel because of last weekend’s attacks in Kaduna and Yobe states, the murderous Boko Haram jihadists would have scored a big point that they had shut the nation down to the extent that the president could no longer travel.
Jonathan said that he rejected the attempt at awarding cheap victory to the criminal group by his critics, saying that he was effectively in charge and doing the job of securing the country wherever he was at any given time.
The president said that it was important for him to attend the summit in Brazil because he had to make a case for salvaging the fast-shrinking Lake Chad, which he said may no longer exist in twenty years if no drastic action was taken to save it.
He disclosed that Nigeria is picking more than 85% of the $6 milion price tag for revamping the historic lake. According to the president, the $6 million figure is only for the feasibility studies on the project, which would involve channeling water from a central African river.
“No country would want to do business with a country whose president cannot travel because of terrorism. Fellow presidents who face similar attacks in their countries continue to come to me, they encourage me, they advise that Nigeria should not be intimidated to shut down.”
President Jonathan said that the criticism of his person has now become “big business” in Nigeria, saying that he is more concerned with delivering on his promises to Nigerians.
“I promise Nigerians that I will not disappoint them; I stand by my promise”
The interview lasted two hours from 7pm local time in Nigeria.