NEXT STOP: CHIBOK

■ APC says Jonathan’s trip to Maiduguri incomplete
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated Presi­
dent Goodluck Jonathan on finding the courage to visit
Maiduguri to pep up the gallant troops battling the Boko Ha­
ram insurgency, but said the president has more trips to make
to Chibok, Buni Yadi and Potiskum, among others.
In a statement issued in Makurdi on yesterday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the
president should follow up his visit to the theatre of the Boko
Haram battle with visits to the parents of the 219 missing
Chibok girls as well as the families of the boys who were
killed at the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe
State, last year.
It said it is only by doing so that the president can begin to
refute the published report that his visit to Maiduguri on
Thursday was politically motivated, aimed at laying the
foundation for his impending electioneering campaign swing
across the north, especially to Maiduguri on Jan. 21st.
The party said now that the president has woken up from his
slumber, he should also address the issue of the low morale
of the troops and their lack of the necessary fighting
equipment, if they are to effectively battle the terrorists who
have killed and maimed thousands of innocent citizens.
“It is instructive that a few hours after President Jonathan
visited Maiduguri, the global news channel CNN aired an
interview with some Nigerian soldiers who complained of very
low morale among the rank and file, lack of fighting equip­
ment and very poor welfare. Another blamed the terrible
situation faced by the troops on massive corruption.
“This does no credit to an administration that has allocated
billions of naira to the defence and security sectors, billions
that apparently did not reach those at the front line of the
battle. It calls to question the usage to which the government
has put the huge funds allocated to the sector, including the
1-billion-dollar loan that was recently approved by the
National Assembly,’’ it said.