Saraki: I have no doubt Buhari will rout B’Haram

Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s senate president, has expressed confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari’s ability to end Boko Haram insurgency in the country.

The senate president, who is not on speaking terms with Buhari, said the political will to end Boko Haram is not lacking in the present government.

He condemned, in strong terms, what he described as “renewed onslaught against innocent Nigerians by the Boko Haram sect, especially during the holy month of Ramadan”.

Saraki, who spoke through Yusuf Olaniyonu, his spokesman, also expressed sadness over the death of six school children in Lagos following a boat mishap that involved 14 school children who were being conveyed across Ojo to Irewe jetty.

He commended the efforts made so far by President Buhari to ensure the safety of Nigerians.

The senate president said he was “particularly unhappy” that the insurgents could let loose their suicide squad on a day Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in Maiduguri on behalf of the federal government, for an on-the-spot-assessment of the situation of the internally displaced persons with a view to providing additional succour to affected families and communities.

“It was really a sad day for me to learn that suicide bombers unleashed attack on the people on a day the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, visited Maiduguri to see things for himself and also visit beleaguered families and communities whose lives and means of livelihoods have been adversely affected by the barbaric acts of the insurgents,” Saraki said.

“Boko Haram is not invincible and I have no doubt that the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari possesses the requisite political will and determination to decisively fight the insurgents and restore security to affected areas.”

On the tragic loss of six young lads and another six students yet to be accounted for after a boat that was travelling from Ojo to Irewe capsized in Lagos, the senate president urged all relevant stakeholders, including water transportation authorities, and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to ensure that the six yet-to-be-recovered children are found and taken out of the water.

“This incident, which is one too many, is another wake up call for officials charged with the regulation of water transportation across the country to rev up their prevention strategies and emergency preparedness level so as to avoid future occurrence and prompt rescue of victims,” he said.

While commiserating with the families of victims, he prayed God to grant repose to the soul of Nigerians whose lives were cut short by both the Maiduguri suicide bombing and the boat mishap in Lagos.

“Any life lost in these type of tragic circumstances is a star dimmed and it is my firm commitment that the senate and indeed the national assembly, under my leadership, will continue to fashion appropriate legislation aimed at strengthening the capacity of the present administration to appropriately prevent and respond to life wasting emergencies such as we have just witnessed,” he added.

He urged all Nigerians, especially the religious faithful, to pray to God to continue to save the country from all forms of calamity.