Boko Haram: Why we could not help Nigeria early-Envoy

The United States of America (USA) on Saturday said that it was incapacitated to help Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram earlier than now by the corrupt inclination of the Jonathan Administration. The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power,told reporters in Yola that Washington was uncomfortable with the former administration’s handling of the Boko Haram issue.

She spoke on a day President Barack Obama declared that the fight against terrorism is not all about military action but also about building institutions and the deployment of diplomacy.

“Security is not just a matter of military action but a matter of the messages we send and the institutions we build and the diplomacy and opportunity we present,” Obama told 500 guests at a town hall meeting in London.

He said his country would help Nigeria “fight against rape and brutality.”

Samantha, on the last leg of her visit to Nigeria said that now that the Buhari Government has shown the commitment and political will to confront the Boko Haram menace,her country is ready and willing to assist the country.

“The U.S, as part of our new resolve and commitment, is now training a battalion of soldiers that will soon return home to face the insurgents headlong,” she said.

“The Battalion will be a high performing one equipped with the American terrorism combat and techniques on their return.”

She was full of praise for Nigeria,Chad and Cameroun for their collective seriousness in squaring up to terrorists.

She asked troops to ensure that communities liberated from the insurgents are well protected to enable them resume normal life in due course.

At the London town hall meeting,Obama said that while the US will continue to prioritize security,how threats from ISIL and terrorism are addressed is important.

His words: “Recognising that security is not just a matter of military action but a matter of the messages we send and the institutions we build and the diplomacy and opportunity we present.

“That is going to be important for the next President of the US and any global leader.’

“I’m in awe of our respective militaries and men and women in uniform who serve their countries in such extraordinary circumstances.

“We do them a disservice saying the entire burden of keeping the world safe is on them; that’s where diplomacy comes in.

“Iran were on the way to getting a nuclear weapon. Because of the work we did diplomatically they are no longer on that path.

“We never engaged with them militarily but the world is now a safer place.

“And we have to help places like Nigeria fight against rape and brutality. If there are communities where children cannot read or feed themselves they are more vulnerable to fostering these ideologies.”

He warned youths of the world to shun “the temptation to forge tribal identities that give you a buffer against change.”

“That’s something we have to fight against,” he stressed,adding: “Whether you talk about Africa, the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Burma – the forces that lead to the most violence and injustice spring out of people saying I want to feel important by dividing the world into us and them.

“They threaten me, and so I have to make sure my tribe strikes out first. Fighting that impulse requires us to start very young with our kids

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