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President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, says his administration had invested over $1 billion in the acquisition of weapons to fight terrorists since he assumed office in 2015.
Buhri said the weapons were bought
from the United States and other countries .
The president while recalling the havoc wrecked by terrorists said two-thirds of Borno State, half of Yobe State, and some local government areas in Adamawa State were under the control of terrorists. He
The president, according to a statement issued by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, explained, “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 a billion dollars to acquire hard and soft ware weaponry from the US and other friendly countries to carry out sustained operations against insurgency since 2015.
“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 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.”
Buhari charged African leaders to take immediate steps to find lasting solution to the over 10-year-old instability in Libya, which is having telling effect on neighbouring countries around it.
He stressed the need for the next Summit of the African Union to take a holistic review of the challenges that continued to fester in Libya with the hope of finding pragmatic African approach to resolving the instability in the country.
The president said the move was necessary to ensure that Libya no longer served as a safe-haven for all kinds of weapons and foreign fighters, whose profound impacts stared all in the sub-regions and Africa.
Buhari noted that efforts must be concretised towards the curtailment and possible prevention of the circulation of small arms and light weapons, as well as the festering of the foreign fighters in the African continent.
According to him, “Global terrorism, banditry and other trans-national crimes continue to pose enormous challenges not only to Africa but to global peace and security. These phenomena have become perennial threats to sustained economic development and growth.
“Nigeria and other regional bodies in Africa and the rest of the world are working assiduously to deal with these existential threats to the very existence of humanity. For us in Nigeria, we continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally to comprehensively win the war against the Boko Haram insurgency and other related terror groups through kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.”
He told the assembly of African leaders that the shrinking of Lake Chad had resulted in dire consequences for the people of the region, including losing their traditional source of living. He said the situation had culminated in the easy recruitment of the youth by the terrorist groups, as the young people sought means of livelihood under difficult economic conditions.
Buhari explained that the scenario created serious instability and served as a litmus test for member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in devising means to restore livelihoods within the region.
He stated, “As a corollary to containing this development, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has begun implementing programmes to safeguard the ecosystem of the basin, including seeking global support to return the lake to an economic hub it was known for in the past.
“Although, we are winning the war, however, as a country and sub-region, we continue to be negatively impacted by events in Libya, 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 freely 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 in order to discourage the spread of insurgency, other criminal groups, as well as arms and foreign fighters in these locations and continent-wide.”
Buhari noted that it was imperative for the African countries, through the African Union, to renew initiatives for finding African solutions to the challenges of Libya, which continued to remain very volatile and unstable, hoisting not only lack of peace and stability in that country, but also hindering development in the Sahel, Central and West Africa as well as the Lake Chad Regions.
He stated, “Too many external interests have pestered on the challenges of Libya for too long and regrettably compounded the search for sustainable resolution.
“This has left our sub-regions far more fragile and safe haven to all negative influences to regenerate which have ultimately remained threats to peace, stability, development and progress of our regions and the rest of Africa.
“It is my hope that the next African Union Summit next month, would revisit this matter, in a comprehensive and pragmatic manner, to free our regions and continent, the cycles of violence, instability, lack of development and progress in the sub-regions of Africa that are well-endowed with resources that can easily sustain not only the continent, but most of the world.
“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.”
The president also urged leaders to put a premium on youth development, with more seriousness and actionable ideas in promoting skills acquisitions, while discouraging idleness.
According to the Nigerian leader, idleness of youths and their non-inclusion in discussion of issues that shape their lives and the future portend danger for the continent, especially in the areas of religious fundamentalism and extremism.
Buhari, who was honoured by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum with an “Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa”, said there was a need to inculcate values and principles of tolerance and peace in educational institutions, and particularly, among the youth.
He said, “African leaders and decision makers should ensure that democratic principles and good governance form the basis for management of affairs in every country in Africa, noting that peace, security and good governance are inseparable.
“There is need also for African stakeholders, that is, the government, private sector and the Civil Society Organisations, to make concerted efforts to support existing mechanisms and initiatives to build strong and virile institutions that effectively support good governance which, inter alia, lead to the development and progress of our countries and continent.
“African leaders must reaffirm their commitment by demonstrating political will required for ownership of African Peace and Security Architecture and in the implementation of African Governance Architecture.
“We must also adjust the effectiveness of the early warning system and conflict prevention and adopt policies aimed at resolving the crisis of de-radicalisation through continuous dialogues and negotiations.”
Buhari 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”.
He said, “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.
“This event is taking place amidst growing armed conflicts, exacerbated by extremists’ ideology rooted in misinterpretation of religious precepts, and of course widespread deprivations of the citizens of Africa and other parts of the world.
“These sad developments have, for many decades, become worrisome that they preoccupy all governments and well-meaning organizations, as well as individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
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