By Hillary Asemota
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has appealed to the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, to take into consideration the need for interventions on the deplorable condition of some roads in the North-east.
He acknowledged that bandits are taking advantage of the poor conditions of roads in the area to defy and relegate security operations.
He noted that the areas where the military were recording high casualties of both manpower and equipment, especially in Maiduguri, were the areas the bandits use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in their attacks knowing fully well the deplorable conditions of the roads in those areas.
He said, “So for us, roads are critical to our success in our operations. I want to appeal to you, whatever it is, whatever it takes, if we can fix most of these roads that we have, it will greatly assist us in carrying out our operations.
“Once we have good roads, the funny thing about North-east, especially Borno State, will be resolutely tackled. Most of the distances are not that long.”
Musa, made the disclosure during a courtesy call to the Minister of Works, on Tuesday in Abuja.
He assured the Minister of full backing of the Nigerian military in his efforts towards realizing the lofty road infrastructure objectives of the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The Defence Chief commended the glaring determination of the Minister of Works to return Nigeria’s road infrastructure to the part of glory knowing the importance of road to the socio-economic transformation of the nation.
He placed on record the strategic importance of road to national security and its place in achieving successful military operations against acts of banditry.
He said, “We are following your activities on the internet, and we know you’re almost everywhere. I want to commend you for the efforts you are putting in. We know how determined you are to ensure that our roads are back. We all know that without roads, there can be no peace.
That’s true for rural areas and urban areas. Roads are significant and very important to the growth of any nation.
Despite all the challenges, we’ve seen how comments have been made, both professionally and unprofessionally, to your person, but you’ve been strong.
“I want to encourage you, sir that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is solidly behind you. We will continue to provide every necessary support that you require.
“We are just a phone call away. Whatever there is, that you would want us to do for you, be rest assured, we will be there, because we know the relevance and importance of having good roads in any society.”
In his response, the Minister of Works thanked the Defence Chief for the wonderful work the Armed Forces are doing to rejig the security architecture and rid the nation of banditry.
He said the military deserves the cooperation, support, and solidarity of all Nigerians in their efforts and sacrifices to secure the citizenry.
He decried the recent brutal killing of the military personnel in Okuama Delta State and thanked the military for their sense of maturity in the face of the needless provocation.
“Let me offer my deepest condolences to you for your personnel that were brutally murdered at Okuama in Delta State while doing everything to ensure peace and security in the area. It’s quite very unfortunate.
