The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has blamed
failure of the immediate past government to provide
equipment and supplies to the military for the spread
of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.
He made the statement on Thursday at the
graduation of Cadets of 63rd Regular Course of the
Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna.
Mr. Osinbajo, who was the special guest at the
graduation, said that the failure resulted to the death
of over 20, 000 people with over two million
displaced and more than 75, 000 children orphaned.
He expressed regret that several billions of dollars
meant for procurement of arms and ammunition to
prosecute the war were cornered by few persons.
“This has left the region with one of the worst
humanitarian crisis,” he added.
The VP commended the military for defeating the
terrorists and for the sacrifices it made to defend the
nation.
He said that the fastest way for Nigeria to get out of
the current recession was for militant groups in the
Niger Delta to stop bombing oil pipelines.
He said that the activities of the militants had
adversely affected crude oil output which had
dropped from 2.2 million barrels per day to below 1
million barrels per day.
Mr. Osinbajo said the destruction had also affected
the revenue accruing to the country by 60 per cent.
While comparing the 2008/2009 recession in United
States with Nigeria’s, the VP said Nigeria’s recession
was caused by massive corruption, lack of saving and
destruction of oil pipelines.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that 133 cadets,
including 17 female cadets, were for the first time
awarded first degree certificates in various discipline
at the occasion.
One hundred and twenty seven (127) cadets were
awarded master’s degree while 14 cadets bagged
doctorate degree.
Three prominent Nigerians, Grace Alele-Willaims,
former Vice Chancellor, University of Benin; Paul
Tarfa, ex-military administrator of Old Oyo State and
business mongul, Innocent Chukwuma, were
conferred with honorary doctorate degrees.
(NAN)