Nigeria Has To End Terrorism With Force
President Goodluck Jonathan stated on Thursday in Windhoek, Namibia, that the Federal Government would no longer take the activities of terrorists lightly.
Jonathan made the disclosure at bilateral talks with President Hifikepunye Pohamba, at the Conference Hall of the Namibia State House.
He said that the Federal Government had decided to be more forceful in curtailing the activities of the Boko Haram group that was unleashing terror in the some states of the North-East region. He solicited the support of his Namibian counterpart and other leaders in stamping out terrorism globally.
“The issue of global terror is worrisome and in Nigeria, we believe that a terror attack on anywhere in the world is a terror attack on everyone. It may be more in one country compared to the other, for instance, in the North-Eastern parts of Nigeria, three states out of 36 states, we are having incidence of terror.
“Initially, we handle it with kid’s glove, but now we have decided to be a little more forceful because we must thrash out these terror groups.We must not allow it to continue to slow down economic growth in that part of the country.
“With the terror attacks in that part of the country, the rest of the country feel it because Nigerians live everywhere. In these other parts, there is always the fear that if you do not tackle it, it will infiltrate in these other parts. We will work together to ensure that terror attack is stamped out globally and in Nigeria, we are committed.’’
Jonathan thanked Pohamba for his country’s support to Nigeria on the election as non-permanent member of the UN.
He used the occasion to call on the super powers to restructure the UN Security Council by making it democratic in allowing other continents, including Africa to have membership. Specifically, the president like Pohamba said that Africa should be given at least two seats in the UN Security Council.
“I also believe in your philosophy that if by God’s grace, the UN Security Council will be restructured, that is, if the super powers will allow it to be restructured. Africa should be considered at least for two positions to represent the interest of African people.
“I always say it that we cannot talk of democracy when the strongest institutions globally are not democratic but dictated to by one country alone. If we must practice democracy and emphasise that all countries must be democratic, we need to start from these powerful UN institutions that all parts of the globe must have a say there,’’ he said.
Earlier, Pohamba had said that his country would forever remain grateful to Nigeria for the contribution and sacrifice toward the attainment of independence.
He stressed the need for the two countries to focus on industrialisation and economic sustenance, particularly in the area of agriculture, mining and tourism.
Pohamba, specifically underscored the need for both countries to jointly exploit their marine resources and water transportation for import and export.
He said that Namibia was the third most popular nation in South Africa and mining sector was the second contributor to its GDP.
After the bilateral talks, the two leaders entered a closed door session which lasted for about an hour before coming out for signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
NAN reports that 11 MoU were jointly signed by relevant ministers of both countries.
The MoUs, included Training of Namibian Foreign Relations Officers at the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy, Agreements on Youth Development and on the Waiver of Visa Requirements for Citizens of both parties holding Diplomatic and Official Passports.
Bilateral Air Service Agreement, Legal Field, Extradition Treaty, Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Technical Cooperation Agreement for the provision of Volunteers Health Professionals in Namibia under the Technical Aid Corps were signed.
The MoU also include cooperation in the Fields of Geology, Mining, Mineral Processing and Metallurgy; Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation and MoU in the field of Tourism.
Source: Legit.ng
