President Bola Tinubu has promised that following the ongoing unprecedented war against terror and banditry by the security agencies, many farmers who were hitherto afraid of going to farms would soon return to their farms as more bandits and terrorists are decimated.
The President said this as part of his nationwide broadcast on Tuesday to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary. The President noted that a leap in food production with the consequent effect on high food prices can only be achieved when peace and security is restored to farming communities.
“My administration took over the leadership of our country 16 months ago at a critical juncture. The economy faced many headwinds, and our physical security was highly impaired”, the President said.
“We found ourselves at a dizzying crossroads, where we must choose between two paths: reform for progress and prosperity or carry on business-as-usual and collapse. We decided to reform our political economy and defence architecture.
“On the security front, I am happy to announce to you, my compatriots, that our administration is winning the war on terror and banditry.
“Our target is to eliminate all the threats of Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and the scourge of all forms of violent extremism. Within one year, our government has eliminated Boko Haram and bandit commanders faster than ever,” Tinubu said.
“As of the last count, over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders have been eliminated by our gallant troops in the Northeast, Northwest, and some other parts of the country.
“We have restored peace to hundreds of communities in the North, and thousands of our people have been able to return home. It is an unfinished business, which our security agencies are committed to ending as quickly as possible.
“As soon as we can restore peace to many communities in the troubled parts of the North, our farmers can return to their farms.
“We expect to see a leap in food production and a downward spiral in food costs. I promise you, we shall not falter on this”, President Tinubu promised.
It would be recalled that following a spike in daring activities of bandits and organised criminal groups especially in rural communities in the North West, President Bola Tinubu ordered the service chiefs and the Defence ministers to relocate to the North West to decisively tackle the spiralling banditry.
This presidential directive has obviously yielded massive results with the decimation of the ranks of bandit groups across the most affected areas of the North West. Many notorious bandit commanders and their gang have been eliminated by a combination of ground and air offensive of the Nigerian military.