Africa will banish terrorism, President Tinubu vows

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has said that Nigeria and Africa at large will banish terrorism which has plagued the continent for years.
Addressing the African Counter Terrorism conference in Abuja on Monday, Tinubu stated that illegal mining in the region is linked to terrorism financing and that those who think that the two vices are not connected are “surely mistaken.”
Tinubu told the conference that terrorism cannot exist in the same space as good governance, noting that terrorism causes such a havoc that “we will doubt our democratic principles, putting societies and governments into such confusion and disarray that we begin to fight amongst ourselves instead of fighting the very thing that seeks our destruction.”
“Already terrorism has taken too many lives and delayed our better future for too long. While terrorism troubles us greatly at the moment, we do well by remembering terrorism is not of Africa. We must tell this imported evil that wants to bend and break us that it shall not succeed, instead of making us bow, we shall banish it,” local media reports on Tuesday quoted Tinubu as saying.
He called for combined regional efforts and international collaboration to fight terrorism, saying, “The fight against terrorism requires a comprehensive approach. We must address the root cause of extremism such as poverty, marginalisation, and social injustice.”
Tinubu, however, stated that these important facts should not become empty rhetorics devoid of meaning or action, adding that “we must also attack the root that feeds this evil branch, terrorism.
He explained that terrorism is becoming a greater threat as it perfects ways to continuously finance itself, reequip, re-supply itself for its sinister mission.
“Key to our collective efforts against terrorism is the need for a fully operational regional counter-terrorism centre. This centre will serve as a hub for intelligence sharing, operational coordination, and capacity building throughout our region. Additionally, we must strengthen existing counter terrorism structures, such as Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit, RIFU Abuja, the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism in Algiers, and the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa in Addis Ababa. All of these bodies must work hard together to continue constantly to change the problem. A regional standby force that includes tackling terrorism as part of its mandate must not be abandoned,” he said.
According to Tinubu, Nigeria is firmly committed to fighting terrorism and violent extremism. “Our most urgent National Security threats, our counter terrorism capabilities have been enhanced through enactment of terrorism prevention and prohibition act, establishing the National Terrorism Centre, NCTC. We have and we continue to take bold steps in safeguarding our nation and the wider region,” he added.
Some of the dignitaries who attended the counter terrorism summit included the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, Undersecretary of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, Minister of Defence for Chad Republic, Bichara Issa Djadallah, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar.
GIK/APA