US Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has dismissed any possibility of putting a timeframe to ending Boko Haram, but a comprehensive approach to gradually eliminating the insurgence was possible.
The envoy said that rather than working toward a timeframe to end the insurgency, the summit, which continued yesterday, would ensure that the underlined issues were addressed to gradually end it.
“I don’t want to put a timeframe on the defeat of Boko Haram but we are going to be more effective, apt and have a comprehensive approach.
“It may take time, for example, to stabilise communities freed from Boko Haram and to rebuild them; that is part of sustainable solutions which is going to prevent them from returning.
“This will help because if you defeat Boko Haram and you are not able to deal with the underlying problems, it may make some people to be extremists.
“The Nigerian government and regional governments have to deal with the immediate challenge and the underlying elements, not timeframe,” he said.
He expressed the US government’s determination to tackle the insurgence in the Lake Chad Basin, noting that “we are extremely vigilant about Boko Haram going for training in Libya and come back, we want to cut the existing connection.”
He said that Nigeria and the US would together develop a comprehensive approach to ending the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin stressing, “What we are working on is truly a comprehensive approach to the challenge posed by Boko Haram.
“The military component is critical; it is necessary, but it is not sufficient. A comprehensive approach has to include taking care of people in their home communities with good governance, with access to actual resources and to jobs so that they are not susceptible to being pulled into extremism out of desperation.
“It has to include support, particularly for displaced …Read More
Source:: Nigerian Pilot
