DAILY TRUST
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said Nigeria retrieved the swathes of territories from terrorists by investing over a $1 billion to acquire hard and soft ware weaponry from the United States and other friendly countries to carry out sustained operations against insurgency since 2015.
The President said this while speaking at the African Conference for Peace, 2023, in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
President Buhari, who was honoured by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum with “Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa”, said there was a need to inculcate values and principles of tolerance and peace in educational institutions, and particularly, among the youths.
He urged leaders to place a premium on youth development, with more seriousness and actionable ideas in promoting skills acquisitions, while discouraging idleness.
The President said idleness of youths and non-inclusion in discussing issues that shape their lives and the future portend liability for the continent, especially in religious fundamentalism and extremism.
President Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, said efforts must be concretised towards the curtailment and possible prevention of the circulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, as well as the festering of the foreign fighters into the African continent.
The President called for the imperatives of the next Summit of the African Union to take a holistic review of the challenges that continue to fester in Libya with the hope of finding pragmatic African approach to resolving the over a decade-old instability in Libya that had made it a haven for all kinds of weapons and foreign fighters whose profound impacts stare all in the sub-regions and Africa.
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