Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has called on the United Nations to support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, citing the threat it poses to global peace, displacement, and poverty.
Tinubu appealed during a meeting with Vladimir Voronkov, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism, at the State House on Thursday.
Tinubu stated that terrorism has consistently undone development gains and increased instability in families and communities.
He stressed that the UN must be more consistent in addressing terrorism in the context of developing countries.
“We appreciate all that you have been doing. We know in the face of many demands and challenges, you can still do much better. We can score you ‘A’ in collaboration but ‘B’ in physical support.
‘’You have to do more because terrorism is an effective danger to democracy; terrorism is also an effective danger to development. Growth and prosperity cannot be achieved until we banish terrorism.”
‘’We have to equally look at other sides of the issue and I have said, it is the where, how, and when of terrorism,” the President said.
Tinubu stressed that global peace and prosperity require a swift and comprehensive response to the threats posed by insurgencies around the world.
“We must take into account the basic needs of our people. If out of the meager resources presently available, we have to dip our hands without the steady support from organizations like the UN, then we are in trouble,” the President said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar told the UN team about the factors that contribute to insurgencies, such as poverty and injustice, and the Nigerian government’s response to these challenges.
“Nigeria continues to make significant investments in education and social security,” he said.
The Under-Secretary-General praised Nigeria’s contributions to global counter-terrorism efforts.
He noted that Nigeria already has a framework for prevention, mitigation, and reconciliation and that these efforts have been valuable in tackling terrorism.
“Of course, terrorism is part of the international agenda, and we had a successful meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussing how to enrich our agenda on international terrorism response.”
‘’I can only mention that politically, and from the point of view of capacity building on activities for counter-terrorism, Nigeria is one of the leading partners,” he added.
Voronkov informed the President that the UN is planning a Counter-Terrorism Summit in Abuja, Nigeria, in April 2024. He said that the summit would be largely driven by African nations and would have an African agenda.