Nigerians reject Jonathan’s N160 billion loan request

Nigerians from all walks of life have totally rejected the $1 billion loan request by President Goodluck Jonathan to fight insurgents.
Angry with the federal government for such a senseless and needless demand, all our respondents rapped Jonathan for being insensitive to the suffering of the common man. They also advised him on more appropriate polity options to deal with Boko Haram.

‘It is insane and outrageous’
No, I don’t. It is insane and outrageous. I don’t support it and I urge the National Assembly not to approve it. The military should get trained on how to combat the menace.
– WASIU SHOWUNMI

‘I don’t support it’
I don’t support it, the government should provide avenue for safe environment and employment and all these troubles will be over.
Youth empowerment would do the magic. All those formenting trouble are young boys, take them off the street and we will have peace.
– OLUFEMI ODEJOBI

‘It’s wasteful and outrageous’
The request by President Jonathan for N160 billion loan from the National Assembly to fight Boko Haram is just a means of further defrauding the country. It’s wasteful and outrageous. We don’t need it. I think the president owes us more explanation on that.
I believe what we need now to fight Boko Haram is not that huge amount but more of intelligent gathering. From all indications, I don’t think we can wage war against this notorious sect except we want to destroy more lives. We don’t need war, it will only compound the situation.
– LUKMAN ABOLORE

‘There is something fishing’
I think President Goodluck Jonathan is only looking for extra money to boost his presidential campaign in 2015. I believe the money is too much for that purpose. There is something fishing. It’s a waste of our resources. I don’t support it.
He should give Nigerians additional reasons or explanation before the request can be granted. The only better option is not to lavish another huge amount on security but to effectively make use of the billions of naira budgeted for the Ministry of Defence to fight insurgency.
– MARY EMMANUEL OBI

‘He needs money desperately for re-election’
This is just a teaser. Jonathan is short of funds and he needs money desperately for re-election in 2015. My better advice for him is to mobilize military personnel to fight the insurgency.
– ABAYOMI ADEMULEGUN

‘Jonathan should go and sit down’
Jonathan should go and sit down. The $20 billion the former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi discovered as missing and he said nothing was missing, let him collect $1 billion he is looking for from there. Rubbish.
– IBIKUNLE OYEKANMI

‘They are looking for money to steal’
I don’t support the loan. They are looking for money to steal. We don’t need N160 billion to fight Boko Haram. President Jonathan should seek foreign assistance.
– BARRISTER KINGSLEY N. NSODUM

‘We need to combat terrorism at all cost’
I don’t think it’s all about money. No amount of money budgeted to flush out these enemies of our nation is too much. Let’s, please support President Jonathan in this fight.
The money is not for him to spend. The President knows what he is doing.
– DR OKEZIE IKPEAZU

‘Our problem is just lack of effective and purposeful leadership’
I cannot support the president for the loan because the request is the definition of mischief. In the past three years, the defence allocation in the country’s budget was jacked-up under the excuse of fighting Boko Haram. This year alone almost N1 trillion was allocated to defence. What has the president done with all these money?
If he wants more money to fight Boko Haram menace, then he should account for the one he collected in the last three years. If he cannot account for the one he collected in the past, then he should not add insult to our injury by asking for another $1 billion.
I suspect he wants to use the money for impeachment, all because of 2015 election that he wants to win at all cost.
The truth of the matter is that we have what it takes to combat the less than 1000 insurgents. Our problem is just lack of effective and purposeful leadership.
– TUNDE BURAIMOH

‘We should be able to raise the money on our own’
If the president is sincere, there is nothing wrong about it. My own problem is zeroing it down to Boko Haram issue. I think it should be security generally. What happens if it is not Boko Haram tomorrow, he will now be running to go and get another loan. Why don’t he make it an wholistic thing rather than just zeroing it to Boko Haram. Let us use it to fight terrorism generally in whatever colour or flavour or guise it comes. Me, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Military hardwares are not cheap anywhere in the world.
However, some people may argue that Nigeria is rich enough to take care of these things. If the president himself is concerned that Nigeria has the highest list of private jet owners, it is something we should be able to do on our own because security is everybody business.
We should be able to raise the money on our own instead of going to the World Bank and we will be entrapped in all the negative things that come with collecting loan from the World Bank and the rest of them.
Really, on the face value, I don’t see anything wrong with it but let it not be fight against Boko Haram alone. Let it be against insurgency generally. Insurgency can be in Niger-Delta tomorrow or the West or any other part of the country.
– JOHN ITODO

‘Why is the quest for loan coming at this time?’
There are a lot of questions to be asked with this development. So, if there’s no $1 billion loan the insurgence continues? Second, what is the guarantee that the insurgence will stop after the loan is raised? Third, where is the loan coming from and who is paying back?
And last, why is the quest for loan coming at this time, some months to the general elections? Boko Haram has been killing for years now. I think it’s a timely loan (Smiles).
– BETHEL NJOKU

‘I am not in support of the loan’
I am not in support of the loan. For what? Which Boko Haram? When the presidency already knows everything about Boko Haram. They said, they have information about them, they should just fight Boko Haram without any loan. Besides, we have enough money, they should borrow from the one they are sharing. They are trying to save enough money for 2015 elections.
– ALEGE MIKAIL GANIYU

‘How can you borrow money to fight Boko Haram’
How can you borrow money to fight Boko Haram? What is the job of the Nigeria Police? I do not support this move by the president.
The government should provide safe environment and employment and all these troubles will be over.
– TOBI BOLASHODUN

‘Borrowing money to fight Boko Haram is a scam’
I do not support it, at all. He is only looking for an avenue to embezzle money. Borrowing money to fight Boko Haram is a scam.
If he urgently needs the money, he should call his reputable friends who are up to the task to dialogue and the money would be out.
– TOMIWA BALOGUN

‘Boko Haram war is a guerrilla warfare that needs a lot of intelligence‘
Yes! Fighting Boko Haram needs funds to properly equip the military, but it needs more sincerity on the part of the government and the military hierarchy itself. Will this money, when secured be used for the purpose for which it is meant?
Will it not be diverted and embezzled as in the tradition of the Nigerian political leaders as usual? These are all the questions one must keep asking. But one thing I know and I have always maintained is that the real Boko Haram war that I have followed since 2003, when it was officially unveiled in Nigeria, is all about the political domination of the Northern Nigeria through religion.
All these Islamic fighters want is Sharia government in their area. They want to be governed by Islamic laws. And this in itself is political. So, Boko Haram war is a guerrilla warfare that needs a lot of intelligence gathering before it can be surmounted and not just about buying new equipment for the military.
Boko Haram war is Nigerian government fighting its own people, where both the innocent and the accused are being killed every day. This is a difficult war to be fought and won by the government anywhere in the world, except through consistent strategies.
To win the war of Boko Haram in Nigeria, this is what I feel could be the possible solutions: (1) the government should look into their demands and see if some of them could be granted, demands which include releasing some of their prisoners in exchange for the abducted Nigerians in their hostage. (2) Look into their basic demands and see which of them could be granted. (3) If all these would not work, the government security agencies should go all out to declare full blown war on BH by looking for their main operations bases, their main leaders; sponsors and source of funding and destroying all of them.
Until there is an effort to stop BH from operating as extensively as they are doing and the government is not doing anything on their grievances, which includes the brutal killing of their leader and founder, Mohammed Yusuf in 2008, I don’t see any possible solution in sight.
These Islamic fundamentalists are fighting over certain things. What are these things and what can the government do to address all these things, will always be very useful in the effort to stop Boko Haram onslaught against Nigeria.
But if BH is about President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term project as some people have been alleging, then the best solution is for the president to sacrifice his ambition for innocent Nigerians, who are losing their lives to Boko Haram everyday. Or are we going to vote for the president for this spate of insecurity to continue to kill more and more Nigerians till 2019?! If BH is about GEJ, then the president should sacrifice his ambition for peace to reign in Nigeria. That is what will make sense in this regard.
– KAYODE SALAKO