Premium Times published Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech from an event during his trip to Washington, DC cohosted by the Atlantic Council:
Let me emphasise that, as a government, we have no illusions whatsoever about the enormity of the challenges ahead of us. We know that it will be a long and bruising struggle, but this is a fight we are in to win. Failure is not an option for us. We do not contemplate it.
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We are confident that we will defeat terrorism in our country and region, because we have the will to win this fight. We will win because we have the support of the Nigerian people who voted us into office to do things differently in order to secure them from harm and provide for their prosperity and well being. We will win because the United States and indeed, the International Community have pledged to stand with us in solidarity.
I therefore strongly appeal to both the Executive Arm and the US Congress to examine how the US government can provide us with far more substantial counter-terrorism assistance with minimal strings. The longer we delay, the deadlier the Boko Haram gets. At all events, we have re-written the rules of engagement protecting the rights of combatants and in particular safeguarding civilians in theatres of conflict.