Only Nigerians Can Rescue Nation From Terrorism — Gen. Nwachukwu

A former minister for foreign affairs, Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), has charged Nigerians to brace to rescue the country from terrorism as they are in a better position to do, despite renewed terrorist activities in the country amid threats by US President, Donald Trump.

Speaking during the launch of a book; “Hidden Treasures In Niger Delta,” yesterday in Abuja, Nwachukwu said no other country can save Nigeria except its citizens.

He said, “President Trump could well be doing what he’s doing to help us save our country but he can’t save Nigeria. But we Nigerians will save our country with their support, of course.”
The former minister who was the chairman of the occasion urged the federal government to support the military with resources and intelligence to quell the ongoing terrorism.

He said, “Give them the resources and the intelligence and they will take aside all this banditry and all this terrorism in no time.

“Anytime I read or hear news that our soldiers had been killed and our children had been kidnapped, and so on and so forth, I want to tell you, it’s not because the Nigerian Army or soldiers are cowards, no.

“We showed how courageous we are in the Second World War, we did it in Liberia and we did it with our own country here.

“We retrieved Nigeria from break-up between 1966 and 1970. We were in Liberia, we were in Sierra Leone, we were in Kenya, we were in the Congo, in the Maldives and so on. We were in Tanzania, we were in Mozambique, and we saved those areas. We can save our country. Support these men, for God’s sake.

“Give them the resources. I speak like this passionately because that’s my life. I was a regular commissioned combatant officer of this army and I led Nigerian officers and men in difficult times.

“And I know that they are not cowards. They can deal with this thing, so, please support them to do so, give them permission, give them the resources.”

He also joined calls for Nigeria’s restructuring, saying Nigeria can only develop fast if the 1999 Constitution is amended.

“Let’s not be afraid to restructure, for as long as we run the 1991 Constitution, Nigeria will be held hostage and development will not come.

“What we did in our time, whatever policies or decrees we built about, we did believe they were in the best interest of Nigeria. Some of them have been so, some have not been so.

“One of which is this 1999 constitution. Change the thing, let us have a true federation. Let the states control their resources. Let the people use all they have and pay dues and taxes to the government. And we will have a better, stronger, more thriving country,” he said.
The chief host, former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, represented by his former chief of staff, Mike Ogiadhome, said the book was a call to action.
He urged leaders in the region to create the investment vehicle that would detail out the investment opportunities and market those opportunities.
Jonathan who wrote the forward for the book, recommended it to the academia, the business sector and industrialists.
The author of the book, Deacon Chris Iyovwaye, said the book is not just a personal project, but the product of years of reflection, lived experience, community engagement over the years, and a deep yearning to change the narrative of the region that has given so much to this nation, yet has received so little in return.