The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammad Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, says the president deserves credit for his efforts in tackling the farmers/herders crisis in the country.
Shehu disclosed this yesterday, while presenting a paper, tagged: ‘Fake news: Challenges of information management‘, at the 10th year anniversary of the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, (FUDMA), in Katsina State.
According to Shehu, “It is a fact that the Buhari administration is the only government of Nigeria that has put forward a workable solution to the herder-farmer challenge in all the years since independence.
“With regards to the long and determined battle waged against Boko Haram, Nigerians are aware of the efforts made by this Government.
“When the government came to power, the terrorist group held and administered an area the size of Belgium. Now they hold none. The terrorists are hiding out amongst remote forests and across borders. This makes it difficult to extinguish the final flames of the insurgency, and the government has no illusions of the potent threat still posed.
“Recent statistics have shown that over 14,500 Boko haram members have voluntarily surrendered. However, the progress made cannot be denied. In the face of rising crime and insecurity, the government’s new community policing initiative was launched.
“Some 10,000 new constables were recruited and the process is on for another 10,000 to be recruited from the areas they will safeguard as opposed to past practice. The government hopes this will bring policing closer to local communities. N13 billion was earmarked for the initial initiative. Going by the plan, every year will see an additional 10,000 policemen.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, said it is a great pleasure to witness a decade of existence of the institution.
According to him, “it is not an easy task to develop an institution from the scratch to its present level, saying it is the best among other universities FUDMA was established together with.
He also narrated the challenges the university’s management has passed through in the past 10 years before it attained its present status.
The university, during the event, rewarded some of its staff for their commitments and dedication to duty.
