Buhari says education is potent weapon against Boko Haram, poverty

President Muhammadu Buhari has described education as a potent weapon against Boko Haram, poverty and unemployment among youths in the Northeast.

Buhari declared this yesterday at Shehu of Borno’s palace in Maiduguri, while commissioning 10 projects in the education, health, housing and roads sectors in the state.

“Education is very imperative in tackling insecurity, particularly Boko Haram, that has claimed many lives and property in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states,” he said.

The president noted that it was the more reason Boko Haram waged war against education.

He assured that the federal government would intensify efforts at securing the release of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok girls from the terrorists.

“As a Nigerian and as the president, I assure every Nigerian whose loved ones are in the hands of abductors that government will do the needful to ensure they successfully regain their freedom,” he pledged.

According to him, the Borno State government has cashed in on the peaceful environment created in the state to highly invest in the health, housing, education and industrial sectors.

The 10 projects inaugurated yesterday include the tomato processing and solar panel factories at the Njimtilo Industrial Hub, a housing estate, Zanna Mustapha Legacy Garden, Yemi Osibanjo Primary School, six mega schools as well as the Aliko Dangote and Muhammadu Buhari academies.

In the health sector, the president also inaugurated the kidney and diagnostic centres at State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.

Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno has said that his administration and people would be grateful to the president for his intervention to curb terrorists’ activities in the state.

He said that the state was confronted with poverty, environmental challenge and lack of access to education, even before the insurgency era.

The governor therefore appealed to the federal government to convert the Ramat Polytechnic and Kashim Ibrahim College of Education to federal institutions.

Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar El-Kanemi, commended the president’s respect for the traditional institution and and fight against Boko Haram.

He therefore urged Buhari to give more support to the military to fast-track counter-terrorism operations in the Lake Chad region.

“With our collective prayers and commitment, the ongoing operations on the shores of Lake Chad will be addressed soon,” said the monarch.