Reputation of Nigeria’s military at stake, says US

The United States says with the rising insecurity in the country, the reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake.

The US assistant secretary for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who made this statement at the third session of the regional security working group meeting in Abuja on Thursday also remarked that the “apparent capture of Bama” by Boko Haram and the prospects of attacks on and in Maiduguri would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population.

“This is a sober reality check for all of us. We are past time of denial and pride,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield admitted that in spite of the joint effort of the US and Nigeria in the fight against terrorism, “the situation on the ground is worsening”.

“The conflict has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people in the Lake Chad region,” she noted.

“The Chibok schoolgirls and others remain hostages, enduring horrible and tragic suffering. Abubakar Shekau’s bold announcement that Boko Haram is now a governing caliphate only adds to the perception that the security situation is steadily worsening. All these developments are deeply disturbing and increasingly dangerous with each passing day.”

The US assistant secretary for African affairs, however, maintained that the US was committed to helping Nigeria confront the insecurity challenge.

“In order to combat this trend, President Obama launched a major security initiative to support Nigeria and the region- the security governance initiative- at our recent US-Africa leaders’ summit in Washington. We are pleased to announce that Nigeria will be at the cutting edge of this effort,” she said.

“We will continue to provide technical training to military and police forces engaged in the fight against Boko Haram. As an important part of this effort, we are pleased to provide advance training to Nigerian infantry battalion.

“We applaud the motivation of this unit and the progress it is making. It is critical that the investment in this unit be properly maintained and utilized upon deployment, with clean supply chains and adequate supplies, a strong chain of command, and missions and values that address Nigeria’s counterterrorism threat and keep civilians safe.

“The reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake. But more importantly, Nigeria’s and its children’s future is in jeopardy. Failure is not an option.”