Abuja - Nigeria's president says he wants to borrow $1 billion from
abroad for equipment and training for the military fighting an
Islamic insurgency.
President Goodluck Jonathan sought approval from legislators in a
letter Wednesday saying the money is needed "to enable them to
more forcefully confront this serious threat."
The military has been criticized for its failure to curb the five-
year-old insurgency by Boko Haram that is spreading across the
country. Those failures have been highlighted by its inability to
rescue the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls now held hostage
for three months.
The oil-rich nation's military budget amounts to about $6.3 billion
a year but large sums are lost to endemic corruption.
Jonathan's letter said the loan could include arrangements with
other governments and would not exceed $1 billion.
- AP
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