September 01, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has solicited the support of the United Nations in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism in light of its rippling effect on global peace, displacements of people and rising poverty.
The President made the appeal at an audience with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, at the State House on Thursday.
President Tinubu noted that terrorism had consistently reversed the gains in development and increased instability in families and communities.
“We appreciate all that you have been doing. We know in the face of many demands and challenges, you can still do much better. We can score you ‘A’ in collaboration, but ‘B’ in physical support.
“You have to do more because terrorism is an effective danger to democracy; terrorism is also an effective danger to development. Growth and prosperity cannot be achieved until we banish terrorism.
“We have to equally look at other sides of the issue and I have said, it is the where, how and when of terrorism.
“We must take into account the basic needs of our people. If out of the meagre resources presently available, we have to dip our hands without the steady support from organisations like the UN, then we are in trouble”, the President said, adding that global peace and prosperity would demand the swift and comprehensive provision of the right answers to the challenge posed by insurgencies in parts of the world.
The Under-Secretary-General commended Nigeria’s contributions toward global counter-terrorism efforts.
Voronkov said Nigeria already had a framework for prevention, mitigation and reconciliation, adding that the efforts had been valuable in tackling terrorism.
“Of course, terrorism is part of the international agenda, and we had a successful meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussing how to enrich our agenda on international terrorism response.
“I can only mention that politically, and from the point of view of capacity building on activities for counter-terrorism, Nigeria is one of the leading partners”, he added.
Voronkov told President Tinubu that the UN had planned a Counter-Terrorism Summit in Abuja.
He said the Summit, slated for April 2024, would be largely driven by African nations, with an African agenda.
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