President Muhammadu Buhari
has said that the African Union’s (AU) vision to silence the guns and
reduce preventable conflict-related deaths in the continent by 2020 must
be achieved ``now’’.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari.
The statement said that the president was speaking at the 26th AU summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday.
President
Buhari decried the use of scarce resources in Africa on armed conflicts
rather than economic and social development of the continent.
The
President challenged fellow African leaders to engage decisively with
the people and government of South Sudan and Burundi to bring the
conflicts they faced to a speedy end.
He added
that African leaders must also forge a united front to rid the continent
of the scourge of terrorism and face together with determination the
noble goals of Agenda 2063, as espoused by the AU.
``We have all shed blood for Africa to be free, but the irony is that, today, we are now killing each other.
``Rather
than facing the developmental challenges confronting us, we are
spending our scarce resources killing our children and inflicting
unspeakable horrors and unimaginable hardship on our brothers and
sisters.
``That is truly a tragedy and it must stop. Enough is enough!
``Within
the framework of the African Union, we have to, as a matter of urgency,
reach a consensus on how to silence the guns. Not by 2020 but now.
``Why must we wait? We must say “NO” to wars and conflicts on our continent,’’ the President maintained.
He restated Nigeria’s determination to wholly defeat terrorism and bring the war against Boko Haram to an end.
President
Buhari said Nigeria would continue to partner with other member states
of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, and Republic of Benin, through the
Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to address the menace of Boko
Haram insurgency.
He reaffirmed that Nigeria would
soon fully redeem its pledge of 100million dollars to enhance the
operations of the Task Force, having released the sum of 21million
dollars to the task force in June 2016.
The President reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to the unity, peace and prosperity of the continent.
``We in Nigeria have always been attached to the idea of African unity.
``During
the struggle to win freedom for our brothers and sisters in Angola,
Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, Nigeria was considered a
front-line State, although we were not geographically on the frontline.
``This
was because we took to heart the words of President Ben Bella of
Algeria that we all had to die a little for all our brothers and sisters
on the continent,’’ he said.
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