President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted responsibility for the Boko Haram violence in his capacity as the leader of the country.
“Whatever goes wrong, I accept. Whatever goes right, I take the glory,” the President said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation on Friday while fielding questions on the violence that has characterised his administration.
“Whenever I hear that somebody dies in Nigeria… I feel pain because we are all Nigerians,” he added.
On the 219 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok last year, the President assured that the girls are still alive.
“We have not seen dead girls, that is the good news. I believe they are still alive, I believe we will get them,” he said.
Jonathan, however, reiterated his belief that he would win the March 28 election.
The election is expected to be tough between him and the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, with many analysts concluding that the latter would win.
Barely one week to the presidential election, experts say it is still too close to call but Jonathan believes his disposition, party structure, good judgement of Nigerians and his achievements while in office would swing victory his way.
“I will surely win… my party is still the strongest party,” he said.
The President also said that all territories seized by Islamist militant group Boko Haram would be retaken within a month.
He said, “I’m very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover the old territories that hitherto have been in Boko Haram’s hands.
“We never expected that Boko Haram will build up that kind of capacity. We under-rated their external influence. Since after the civil war we’ve not fought any war, we don’t manufacture weapons, so, we had to look for help to re-equip our army and the Air Force.”
But the President admitted that the response to the insurgents’ initial advance in the North-East of the country had been too slow.
The army has claimed recent victories over Boko Haram in a conflict that has killed thousands since 2012.
Backed by neighbouring countries Chad, Niger and Cameroon, Nigeria’s military said it had recaptured 11 of the 14 districts which had been under Boko Haram control.
On Thursday, however, Boko Haram attacked Ngala town, killing 11 people, after the army said it had retaken it.
February’s elections were postponed by six weeks after the armed forces said they needed more time to secure the country.
President Jonathan told the BBC he was confident of victory – despite many predicting the most fiercely contested polls since the end of military rule in 1999.
His main opponent, Buhari, has described the 16-year rule of Jonathan’s party as “a disaster for the country and its citizens.”
