…Says regime spent $1bn to reclaim
…Boko Haram-held territories
…Says terrorist groups recruiting idle youths
Despite spending over $1 billion to reclaim Boko Haram-held territories in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states since 2015, Nigeria’s security and that of the Lake Chad Basin remains unstable due to lingering conflicts in Libya, the Central African Republic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), said this on Tuesday, shortly after receiving the “Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa” conferred upon him by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital.
“Although we are winning the war, however, as a country and sub-region, we continue to be negatively impacted by events in Libya, the Central Africa Republic, The Sahel and the war in Ukraine,” Buhari told his counterparts at the African Conference for Peace, 2023.
The President premised his argument on the free circulation of “all sorts of small and light weapons” orchestrated by foreign fighters.
He also reasoned that the idleness of African youths and non-inclusion in discussing issues that concern them is providing a steady recruitment pool for the extremist organisations wreaking havoc in various parts of the continent.
He, therefore, urged leaders to place a premium on youth development, with more seriousness and actionable ideas in promoting skills acquisitions while discouraging idleness.
This is according to a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, titled ‘President Buhari receives award for peace in Africa, lists conditions for future harmony.’
The President said, “When I assumed power in 2015, Boko Haram held about two-thirds of Borno State, half of Yobe State, and a couple of Local Government Areas in Adamawa State, all in the North-East of Nigeria.
“We have been able to retrieve these swathes of territories by investing over $1bn dollars to acquire hard and software weaponry from the US and other friendly countries to carry out sustained operations against insurgency since 2015.”
According to him, these monies would have been better spent on critical infrastructure such as Healthcare and Education. Still, even these will be of no advantage to the people amidst conflict.
“Our Armed Forces and those of our partners in the Multinational Joint Task Force (consisting of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Nigeria) continue to demonstrate great bravery while paying the ultimate price in securing our collective freedom.
“Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scarce and lean resources to ensure that we have a well-resourced military force to take on this task. Ideally, these are resources that could be spent on Education, healthcare, infrastructure and other social services, but without peace, we have learnt the hard way that our children cannot go to school or seek good healthcare,” the President stated.
He explained that the scenario created serious instability and served as a litmus test for member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in devising means to restore the livelihoods within the region.
Buhari said, “Although we are winning the war, however, as a country and sub-region, we continue to be negatively impacted by events in Libya, the Central Africa Republic, The Sahel and the war in Ukraine.
“Our region is awash with all sorts of small and light weapons that continue to be free in circulation, orchestrated by the impact of foreign fighters.
“We must, therefore, support peace initiatives to bring political stability in crisis-ridden areas such as Libya, Central African Republic and other parts of the Sahel region to discourage the spread of insurgency, other criminal groups, and arms and foreign fighters in these locations and continent-wide.”
The President urged his counterparts to concretise efforts to curtail and possibly prevent the circulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons and the festering of foreign fighters into Africa.
To the current chairperson of the AU, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Buhari said the next Summit of Union must find a pragmatic African approach to resolving the over a decade-old instability that made the country a haven for all kinds of weapons and foreign fighters.
“It is my hope that President Macky Sall, as President of the African Union, would take up this challenge at the continent’s next Summit to refocus our attention to finding indigenous sustainable solutions to Libya as indeed the entire Peace and Stability Architecture of our continent,” Buhari said.
He thanked the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, under the tutelage and leadership of Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, for the honour of nominating him as the recipient of the “African Award for Strengthening the Peace”.
“It is indeed a recognition that speaks volumes to the ultimate goal of collective efforts by African leaders to engender peace and stability as prerequisites for development in our continent,” he remarked.
Buhari also appreciated President El-Ghazouni and the Government and people of Mauritania for hosting the peace conference.
In his remarks, the President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, said the 2023 conference theme was based on the recommendations of the “Nouakchott Declaration” that emerged from the inaugural conference.
Bayyah explained that the award was given to Buhari for providing good leadership, promoting peace in a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-linguistic country like Nigeria and extending his experience and wisdom to other African countries.
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