President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday assured residents of Borno State that he would end the Boko Haram crisis and commence the process of rebuilding destroyed towns and villages in the state.
Jonathan gave the assurance at Ramat Square in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital during his campaign to seek re-election in next month general elections
The president said the rehabilitation of the victims of the insurgents would begin, stressing that the destroyed schools, communities would be rebuilt as every ministry that had something to offer would be made to be involved in the rebuilding exercise.
He said, “I am promising the whole of you that we shall surely end this insurgency. We will surely stop Boko Haram and we shall return Borno to the path of peace.
“Whatever it takes to do this and to ensure the return of the Chibok girls we will do. We will surely conquer Boko Haram. We will surely return this state to the peaceful state we know.”
President Jonathan said he was saddened by the insinuations in some quarters that his government brought the insurgency on the Northeast for political gains, arguing that there was nowhere in the world and no leader for whatever reason would allow insecurity in his own country.
He noted the low turnout at the campaign ground, acknowledging that it was due to the security measures in place.
Jonathan said, “I was made to understand that some of you had to trek up to five kilometres to get here. This is necessary because of the security situation we found ourselves, we have to take every necessary precaution.”
Among the prominent speakers at the campaign was the former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. He said, “If there is free and fair election in the Borno State Mr. President, I can assure you that Shettima cannot score 30 per cent of the vote cast. I must also assure you that the whole of Borno is for you if we are going to conduct free and fair election.”
The Director General of Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Senator Ahmadu Ali, said, “Nigerians should shine their eyes and vote for Goodluck Jonathan who has what it takes to take the country to the promised land.
“It has been predicted that the fastest growing economy in the world in 2015 will be China, Qatar and Nigeria and the future of Nigeria is brighter under Goodluck Jonathan.”
Meanwhile, the people of the town were made to go through difficulties as traffic were diverted in most of the routes which made some to vacate the roads.
Some of the roads were closed to the vehicles as early as 8 am on Saturday even though the president arrived the town at about 12:30 pm and headed for the Shehu of Borno palace. He arrived at the venue of the campaign at 2:30pm.
