Federal Government Responds To Lakurawa Criticism: ‘We Didn’t Create It To Aid France

In an interview with France 24, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, clarified that the military had already dealt a significant blow to terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), making them no longer a major threat.

Idris acknowledged that while Boko Haram has not been completely eradicated, their capacity to challenge the country has been severely reduced. “They’ve been largely dissipated. They’ve fled into the bushes, targeting only soft spots. We haven’t completely wiped them out, but we’ve degraded them to the point where they no longer pose a significant challenge,” he explained.

On the issue of Nigerians becoming poorer over the past decade, the Minister emphasized the growth of the economy under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership. He pointed to an increase in the country’s GDP from 2.3% to 3.84% in the first quarter of 2024, indicating signs of improvement.

Addressing concerns about the possibility of a coup in Nigeria following recent unrest in some West African countries, Idris reassured that the country’s strong democratic institutions have mitigated such fears. “We don’t have that fear; we have fairly strong democratic institutions in place. We’ve been running a democracy for almost 26 years, and these institutions are becoming more entrenched,” he added.