Why We Need $1 Billion ECA Fund For Security – Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government has described the criticisms trailing the approval of $1 billion for the fight against insurgency and other violent crimes in the country as unnecessary and unhelpful.
The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Lai Mohammed, expressed this position at a News conference in Lagos State.
He said the Nigerian Governor’s Forum acted wisely in approving the fund from the Excess Crude Account based on the need to properly fund security operations in the Country to adequately respond to threats by Boko Haram and other criminals.
Mr Mohammed pointed out that the approved fund was not to fight Boko Haram in the North-east alone but also to tackle kidnapping, cattle rustling, illegal oil bunkering and other crimes, and expressed dismay that an action intended to make the Country safer had been subjected to attacks by people with ulterior motives.
The Minister said it was wrong to sacrifice the issue of security on the altar of politics, saying opponents of the fund were taking politics too far.
Mr Mohammed said asymmetrical wars were very expensive to fight, adding that even though Boko Haram had been degraded, there was the need to properly fund Military operations to enable it confront insurgents’ threats.
Further justifying the approval, Mr. Mohammed said military operations in the North-east cost the Country a lot of money, adding that the aircraft being used for the war, including fighter jets and helicopters, altogether consumed 64,021.08 litres of fuel per day amounting to #15.153 million daily to fuel the aircraft.
The Minister said spares for the aircraft from January to November 2017 cost a total of #20,019 million while consumables for the aircraft, including engine oil, plugs etc, amounted to #3.86 million monthly.
Mr. Mohammed said between November 5 and December 17, 2017, the amount spent on ammunition was over five million dollars, noting that there was nothing wrong in the opposition offering constructive criticism as democracy allowed freedom of expression.
He, however, said freedom of expression was not a licence for anyone to distort facts, engage in crass sensationalism or bring partisanship to every issue, especially the one that concerns security of the nation.
The Minister said those who viewed this $1 billion approval by the NGF from the prism of partisanship were wrong, cautioning that the Military was arguably undoubtedly the most national of the Country’s institutions and hence should not be dragged into partisanship.
Mr. Mohammed said the fund was to avoid the mistakes of the past where so many lives, properties and even territories were lost to Boko Haram owing to poor funding of military operations.
He argued that if funding for the insurgency war had been well channelled by the immediate past administration, a lot would have been achieved and there would be no need for the withdrawal from ECA.
The minister commended the NGF for approving the fund, describing their action as patriotic.
Mr. Mohammed described the Buhari -administration as very disciplined Government which would ensure the fund was used for its purpose.