Governor Kashim Shettima has described the appointment of two indigenes of Borno as security chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari as one of the happiest moments in his lifetime.
He declared that the fight to overcome insurgents “is now or never” because with the duo, Nigeria now has the best of chances to overcome the challenges of insurgency facing it, since 2009.
Shettima spoke while hosting members of the Insurgency Victims Support Fund under the chairmanship of Lt. General T.Y Danjuma, who paid him a courtesy call at the Government House in Maiduguri yesterday.
Shettima said Buhari’s choice of retired Major General Babagana Monguno and Major General Tukur Buratai as National Security Adviser and Chief of Army Staff respectively was a classic case of putting square pegs in square holes.
He said both men had been given the mandate of liberating their state, which is the centre of Boko Haram activities, while they possess ancestral knowledge of the Borno terrain in addition to being direct victims of insurgency attacks with their relatives killed, their residences destroyed and their towns raided.
“It was the happiest moment of my life. President Muhammadu Buhari made a strong statement by his decision to appoint two highly competent sons of Borno to the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Army Staff.
“I think his strategy was to get people with ancestral knowledge of the Borno terrain. Major General Tukur Buratai is even a direct victim of Boko Haram attacks.
“He lost family members when his residence was attacked earlier this year in Buratai, a town in Biu local government area. Monguno was destroyed and once occupied by Boko Haram and that is where the new NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd) hails from.
In fact, a key family member of General Monguno is still being held captive by Boko Haram insurgents. These two Generals are from Borno, they know exactly where it pinches and most importantly, they understand the terrain and can easily connect with communities to get local support. Added to them is also the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar who hails from Bauchi also in the northeast. AVM Abubakar has spent many of his formative years in military here in Borno State. He has spent over ten years in Borno, he knows the terrain very well also and connect with the people.
“I think for us, it is now or never because the President has generously put sons of Borno and the northeast to lead the battle for the freedom of Borno, the northeast and rest of Nigeria, from the murderous threats of insurgents.
“Insha Allah, with the combined efforts of other competent service chiefs and all Nigerians, the war on terror will soon be won by the supremacy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” Shettima said.
