May 04, (THEWILL) – United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has vowed that perpetrators of terrorism in the country must be held accountable.
This was even as Guterres said the United Nations is adopting a victim-centred approach to tackle the menace of terrorism in the country.
Guterres spoke after laying a wreath in honour of the victims of August 26, 2011, Boko Haram attack at the United Nations House in Abuja, which led to the killing of 23 United Nations staff and civilians and leaving 16 others injured.
Guterres said: “On that tragic day (August 26, 2011), an appalling terrorist attack on the UN House left 23 UN employees and civilians dead and 16 injured. Those staff members, who lost their lives are heroes who proudly served Nigerians through the UN organisations.
“We encourage all Nigerians, who have endured similar violence in their own communities. In our victim-centred approach, perpetrators must be held accountable. We remain steadfast in our commitment for a peaceful Nigeria and for all people.”
The UN Chief, however, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for its support in rebuilding the United Nations House which enabled the staff to return.
Guterres also held series of meetings with members of the diplomatic corps, religious leaders, civil society organisations, women groups, people living with disabilities, among others.
Speaking after meeting with Guterres, the Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, said his discussion with Guterres centred on how to resolve the dilemma of a country full of talented people, but facing a lot of problems.
Onaiyekan said: “Nigerians are genuinely religious, but we see around us, so much corruption and outright wickedness.”
While saying that it has become necessary to interrogate how a nation that is rich is full of poor people; a nation that is full of talented people, yet hardly organised, placed the responsibility on the doorsteps of those in government.
Onaiyekan further said he told Guterres that Nigerians are not satisfied with how far the rulers are dealing with the issues concerning them, particularly the issue of poverty, the issue of insecurity, and the issues of social services.
“The government tells us they are doing their best and we say that their best is not good enough. We believe we can do better”, Onaiyekan added.
Speaking on the herders-farmers crisis in the country, Onaiyekan said for the past ten years, the government has been struggling to address the issue of armed herdsmen, which has created a lot of problems, prominent amongst which is the displacement of farmers.
According to Onaiyekan, “It seems the displacement is becoming permanent and the herders are taking over the farmlands and the government still claims they have no way of bringing things back to normalcy. The result is that farmers can no longer farm and we are facing the prospects of famine because the parts of Nigeria that use to produce a lot of food, many of them can no longer farm.
“We must admit that the old traditional method of cattle rearing is no longer sustainable in this day and age because it has become a recipe for chaos. We must learn from how other people rear cattle and produce a lot of meat without disturbing anybody. It can be done and if it is not done, it must be that some people are not ready to do the right thing.”
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