It will take 20 years to address insecurity in Nigeria - Buratai

Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd)

Immediate past Chief of the Nigerian Army, Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd), has told the the Nigerian Senate that it will take the country the next twenty years to address the security challenges facing the country presently.

While speaking on Thursday, February 18, when Buratai appeared before Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bauchi North led Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening as an ambassador nominee, he said it will take the country 20 years to address insecurity issues.

According to Buratai, the intelligence capacity of the Nigerian Army was too low, but now it is first class, a top notch in cyber command.

Buratai who also noted that the warfare has permeated the society, said that communities have been won to their side.

He affirmed that it will require a multi prolonged approach and that military warfare is just one aspect.

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”The military alone cannot solve this. There should be hospitals, schools, roads and govt presence in these communities. There are so many ungovernable spaces and until these spaces have government presence, it will not be resolved.”

The former service chiefs who were appointed ambassador-designates have appeared for the screening which is currently ongoing. They are retired chief of defence staff, Abayomi Olonisakin; former chief of army staff, Yusuf Buratai; former navy chief, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, and former chief of air staff, Sadique Abubakar.