The Minister of Information and
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said he stands by what he said in 2015, that the
Boko Haram terrorists have been technically defeated.
The minister stated this on
Monday when he paid a working visit to the new corporate headquarters of “The
Sun” Newspaper in Lagos.
Fielding questions from the
editorial board of the newspaper led by the Managing Director and
Editor-in-Chief, Mr Onuoha Ukeh the minister said Nigeria is currently facing
global terrorism that has no boundary, no frontier.
“I stand by what I said that Boko
Haram is technically defeated.
“What we are having today is
global terrorism where you have the ISIS, ISWAP Al-qaeda all working together.
“Terrorism is a global issue.
Between 2009 and 2015 we were fighting Boko Haram, but today we are fighting
global terrorism where the remnants of the Army in Syria are now joining hands
with the ISWAP and others,” he said.
Mohammed said his position in
2015 that Boko Haram had been technically defeated was based on what he saw on
ground when he led a team of local and international journalists to the
epicentre of insurgency in 2015.
“I was on ground in Bama, Konduga
and Maiduguri and I know what I saw before I made that claim.
“We are fighting global terrorism
and that is why we are appealing to our foreign partners, especially the UN and
our neighbours.
“By the time we get more
platforms and the new helicopters that are being expected there will be
tremendous improvement.
The minister, who said he was at
the newspaper’s headquarter as part of his continuous engagement with the
media, enjoined “the Sun” to continue to support the government in fighting
fake news and hate speech.
“Fake news and hate speech pose
imminent threat to the survival of the nation’s existence.
“The purveyors of siamese twins
of evil must be checkmated and government will continue to engage to end the
menace.
” We expect you to remain in the
vanguard of the efforts to tackle fake news and hate speech.
“We expect you to educate our
people on the efforts being made, especially by the government, in this regard.
“This Administration has no
intention of muzzling the media or stifling free speech.
“Our campaign is against fake
news and hate speech. And we will not rest until our media space has been rid
of fake news and hate speech,” he said
The minister said that the
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has delivered on the three mantra
of fighting corruption, fighting insurgency and improving on the economy.
He assured Nigerians that the
government will continue to work the more to deliver on the mandate and lift
Nigerians from poverty.
Speaking on the reform in the
broadcast industry, Mohammed reiterated that no amount of attacks, will stop
the implementation of approved
recommendations on reform of
broadcasting code.
He, however, assured that in
implementing the recommendations, the government will not tamper with the
freedom of the press or stifle the rights of people to air their opinions.
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