Politics
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President Muhammadu Buhari has given order for the release of $21 million to the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting against Boko Haram insurgents to prosecute the conflict
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has directed the release of $21m out of the pledge of $100m which Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF. Buhari who disclosed this at the 25th African Union, AU, summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday, June 13, said the money would be released within one week.
The president, who chaired the Peace Security Council at the event, said he gave the directive based on the decision of the recent extraordinary summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin that $30m should be immediately made available to the MNJTF which is saddled with the responsibility of fighting Boko Haram.
Buhari noted that Boko Haram had not only extended its reach to beyond Nigeria’s neighbours, its activities were not limited to them because terrorism is a global phenomenon. He said the global nature of terror required all countries to act in partnership by waging war against agents of evil.
“Given this dimension of global terror it requires us to act accordingly in brotherhood and partnership to fight our common goals against agents of evil,’’ he said.
The president said he was pleased to get the cooperation of the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin which met recently to take far-reaching decisions on how the MNJTF would operate.
The President regretted that the continent was inundated with conflicts of diverse forms in Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, and more recently in Burundi.
On the crisis in South Sudan and Burundi, Buhari regretted that the people were suffering while their political leaders were busy bickering.
“I believe that is incumbent upon us as leaders to always place the interest of our countries above narrow and personal interests. It is therefore my expectation that at the end of this summit, the PSC will come out with a united message to call on all parties to act in the interest of their people and the entire continent,’’ Buhari said.
The president said further that African leaders must make deliberate efforts to “save the face of Africa, we must give hope to the hopeless.
“The time to do so is now as we look forward on the march toward 2063 to deliver a continent that is at peace with itself, prosperous, a global partner and a democratic show case,” he said.
— Jun 15, 2015 @ 13:10 GMT
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