By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi has rated President Muhammadu Buhari high for his unprecedented and massive investment in military hardware since the inception of the present administration.
The minister gave the commendation while presenting the administration’s Scorecard by his ministry in Abuja on Monday.
Magashi who reeled out the many achievements of the administration said that the tge government recognized security as one of its core areas, adding that without security, national development would become a mirage.
Going down the memory lane, the Minister recalled that as of 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of leadership, Boko Haram terrorists had kept the nation at a standstill, the military was underequipped and were unable to handle the many security challenges that confronted the nation.
He also recalled that that before 2015, Boko Haram ruled over a number of regions in the country’s north-east, the terrorist organization kidnapped and abducted people at will, separatist agitations, cultic conflicts, and community strife plagued the South West and South East, while crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism was at their crescendo, developments he said, impacted negatively on investment in the oil industry in the Niger Delta Region.
The noted that while the nation was held down by enormous security challenges, the Nigerian Armed Forces were unable to properly combat the numerous threats largely due to inadequate platforms, lack of incentives for military personnel, and the declining political will.
The armed forces, according to the Minister, have also seen impressive advancements in the fields of personnel and veteran welfare, research and development, as well as investment in the area of infrastructural and manpower development.
Through ground breaking polices, unprecedented acquisition of platforms, recruitment and capacity development of personnel, infrastructural development, the nation has recorded remarkable progress in the area of security, the Defence boss said.
The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari led administration has provided a safe and secure maritime border to prevent illegal activities on Nigeria’s waterways.
Through a number of operations, the Minister said that the Armed Forces had similarly performed admirably in the war against crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering.
He disclosed that up until this point, a total of 5,840 illegal refining sites (IRS) had been deactivated since 2015.
According to him, more than 6 million barrels of crude oil, 1.2 billion litres of automatic gas oil, 24 million litres of dual purpose kerosine, and roughly 3 million litres of premium motor spirit (PMS) were all taken from oil thieves.
He noted that oil thieves were prevented access to more than 500 thousand barrels of crude oil, 41 million liters of AGO, 1.4 million liters of DPK, and more than 132 thousand liters of PMS in 2022, actions that had prevented the nation from losing about N158 billion.
