By Sofiyyah Abdur Rasak, Lagos
The Olowu of Kuta, His Royal Highness Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama, Tegbosun iii, has urged Nigerians to show patriotism towards the military in order to defeat the Boko Haram.
Olowu in a statement issued by his Media Office said the Chadian Army was able to record such a feat against the Boko Haram because of the total support it enjoyed from the populace.
The monarch while reacting to the recent counter attack by the Chadian Army that killed scores of the insurgents and put them to flight, said it was because the whole country was behind the President Idris Debby led army.
His words, “ I think we need to draw a lesson from the patriotism displayed by the Chadian Army. Also, none of their citizens raise any issue after the attack, neither did the Amnesty International raise issue of war crimes against the army. All of them: the Chadian nationals and all the international non governmental organisations in the country were on the same page.This is the way to go in order to boost the morale of our own army and provide the necessary support for them; both financially and morally.”
Olowu maintained that the army given the necessary support will thrash the Boko Haram and return peace to the North East which has become their enclave.
He, however, said he drew inspiration from the performance(s) of the Nigerian army in peace keeping efforts across the world, where it has distinguished itself, adding that overcoming Boko Haram in Nigeria will be a walk over for them once, “we give them the necessary impetus to achieve victory”.
Olowu also commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai for providing leadership to the Nigerian Army despite the country’s peculiar situation, “Buratai deserve our Collective support for his patriotic efforts in repositioning our Army.
“I think our army also needs to draw inspiration from the Chadian Army’s feat against the Boko Haram and redouble its effort to crush the insurgents, our army should ignore the enemies of the nation under the guise of civil rights movement as it is evident that Boko Haram is vulnerable now after the Idris Derby army’s onslaught against them.
“What we need for our troops is the final push to finish off the insurgents.
“I urge the elite and journalists in the country to stop meddling in the military’s operational matters by ascribing baseless meanings to posting and transfer among officers and men, let’s support our Army as patriotic citizens of Nigeria rather than celebrating external forces”.
