President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday that the
crises in Africa present the continent as one under siege
and called on its leaders to reverse the trend.
The President, who said this while addressing the AU
summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, noted that some
of the greater challenges to peoples within this Union
still lay in the political, economic, as well as peace and
security spheres.
The speech was made available to the News Agency of
Nigeria in Abuja.
“Our continent is currently bedevilled by the evils of
terrorism and insecurity; poverty, youth unemployment,
and underdevelopment.
“The destructive effects of the inhuman and criminal
campaigns of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and
neighbouring countries; the Al-Shabab attacks in East
Africa, and the activities of the Al-Qaida in the
Maghreb, all bear testimony to a continent under siege,’’
Buhari said.
He also said the images in the international media of
African youths getting drowned in the Mediterranean sea
on their illegal attempts, and often times illusory hope of
attaining better life in Europe “is not only an
embarrassment to us as leaders, but dehumanises our
persons.
“Indeed, they combine to paint a very unfavourable
picture of our peoples and countries.”
Buhari said African leaders owed it as a duty to reverse
the ugly trend by pursuing relentlessly measures that
engender peace and stability.
“We must put an end to the so-called push factors that
compel our young men and women to throw caution to
the winds and risk life, limbs and all, on this dangerous
adventure.
“We must redouble our efforts to sustain the economic
development of our countries, ensure empowerment of
our youths, and create more jobs.
“We must improve and upgrade our infrastructure, and
above all continue the enthronement of a regime of
democracy, good governance and respect for human rights
and rule of law,’’ he declared.
Accordingly, Buhari said leaders must persist in their
collective endeavour to work together through the AU
and the respective Regional Economic Communities, to
uplift the continent and provide the African peoples the
enabling environment for the realization of their
legitimate dreams and aspirations.
He assured of the unflinching commitment of Nigeria to
the ideals and aspirations of the AU as explained in the
Agenda 2063, which is geared towards ensuring a
peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa in the next 50
years.
“It is for this reason that Nigeria is fully and irrevocably
committed to the ECOWAS vision.
“We do so because we believe that African integration is
best attained through the instrumentality of our RECs
as the building blocs of viable continental institutions.
“Nigeria will therefore continue to play its part in
supporting the AU Commission and other continental and
regional institutions in their efforts to prioritize African
development in all sectors of human endeavour,’’ he
added.
The President said the journey might look arduous, but
certainly not impossible adding that opportunities existed
in every challenge.
“If and when we adopt this call for a change of attitude,
approach, and disposition towards agreed protocols and
commitments, we shall be bequeathing a politically stable,
economically developed, and socially harmonious Africa,
thereby justifying the confidence reposed in us by our
electorate.
“We will also demonstrate our qualities as statesmen and
true daughters and sons of Africa.’’
Buhari said it was gratifying to note that AU had made
laudable progress over the past one and a half decades
since its transformation from the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU).
He said the AU had been able to redirect its priorities
at the continental level from mainly political goals to
more diverse aspirations that were equally fundamental
to its survival and development in a global community.
Buhari


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