It’s tough fighting corruption, terrorism, Buhari admits

In spite of his determination to overcome the scourges of corruption, terrorism and oil theft and their negative in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is a tough call to take them on at the same time.
He however noted that his administration would not relent in eliminating the vices from the nation’s body polity.
Buhari who spoke when the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, visited him in Abuja on Thursday, expressed appreciation for Gnassingbe’s concern for regional security.
He noted that Gnassingbe’s regime was being challenged with the Boko Haram insurgency, oil theft, illegal fishing, oil pollution and illegal dumping of toxins in the country.

Buhari said it was not easy for his administration, which he said, was fighting on many fronts.
According to him, the government is contending with insurgency in the North-East and oil theft in the South-South while trying to provide infrastructure in the country at the same time.
He said, “His (Gnassingbe’s) concern about regional security made it imperative for him to organise a summit on maritime security and development in November to examine a lot of issues.
“As for Nigeria, we are grateful for the sympathy and the goodwill expressed, touching on the performance of our armed forces and law enforcement agencies, since this administration came into being. It is not easy trying to fight on so many fronts, the North-East, the South-South and then try to provide infrastructure in our country.”
The President observed that the cooperation of the regional countries comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic had resulted in the isolation of Boko Haram and peace in the region.
Read also: Buhari blames past leaders for corruption, oil sector failure
Earlier, the Togolese President had invited Buhari to a security and piracy summit scheduled for Lome in November.
Gnassingbe said his country was organising the summit because $7bn had been lost to piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Togolese leader told Buhari that the security summit would deal with issues of piracy, oil theft, environmental pollution, immigration as well as human and drug trafficking.
He therefore called on African nations to collaborate to combat the scourge and security challenges in the sub-region.
Gnassingbe commended Buhari and the Nigerian security forces for the work they were doing to combat terrorism in West Africa.
When asked by journalists if African countries were not hosting too many summits, Gnassingbe disagreed, saying the summits were not enough.

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