The Nigerian military is close to completely defeating Islamist Boko Haram militants, President Muhammadu Buhari has told theBBC.He said the militants could no longer mount conventional attacks against security forces or population centres."I think, technically, we have won the war," he said.The president has given the army until the end of the month to defeat Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has devastated north-eastern Nigeria.But the BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi in the capital, Abuja, says that the deadline is likely tobe extended as Boko Haram is still bombing areasdespite losing towns under its control.Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.The insurgency is said to have killed some 17,000 people and left more than two million homeless.The jihadists have been forced to cut back on suicide bombings as a result of the military action against them, President Buhari said."Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," he said. "They have now been reduced to that.""Boko Haram is an organised fighting force, I assure you, [but] we have dealt with them."He said the militants had all but been driven outfrom Adamawa and Yobe states and remained aforce only in its heartland of Borno state."They cannot now marshal forces and attack towns or attack military installations and so on as they did before."I don't think this is mad talking."The president said that Nigeria had reorganised and reequipped the military. which had receivedtraining from the British, the Americans and theFrench."A lot is being done," he said.
As part of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu's campaign for promoting Made-in-Aba products, Abia State government and Abia State National Association, U.S.A. and North America, ASNA-NA,showcased the potentials and quality of Aba products to the international community during the association's national convention in New York City, USA. The event saw many designers, such as Chumar, and thousands of products shipped in from Aba on display, with models on the runway, adorning Aba-made designs. According to the Special Assistant to the Abia State Governor on Diaspora Matters, Mr. John Ndubuisi, all the outfits on display were sold out and orders placed, noting that Made-in-Aba designs will soon be competing in the American market. He added that with the clamour for restructuring, Abia State Government is working to grow the local economy, provide employment, empower skilled artisans and boost internally-generated revenue, stressing that Aba, dubbed The Japan of Africa for its entrepreneurial ...
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