Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki Wednesday urged the
International Community to partner with Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram
insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country.
Saraki made the call while delivering his key note address at the
ongoing 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, organized by
the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the United Nations (UN)
headquarters in New York.
He noted that the menace of insurgency and all forms of brutality
being visited on innocent citizens by terrorists across the world
require international collaboration to curtail as they pose great
threat to global peace and democracy.
Like most other countries, according to the Senate President,
terrorism has become a clog on Nigeria’s path to sustainable
development.
He stated that terrorism can no longer be treated like a local problem
and that it was time the world joined Nigeria to decisively defeat
Boko Haram while urgently rebuilding the Northeast.
Saraki said: “The time to act is now. For us in Nigeria, with the new
leadership at the executive and legislature, we are reacting already.
You have a reliable partner to work with.
“Boko Haram represents the greatest terrorist threat we face. The
insurgency’s senseless terror has brought untold destruction and
hardship on our people in the North East of the country. I therefore
call on the international community to partner with Nigeria to defeat
Boko Haram.
“Thankfully, our military has in recent times, significantly degraded
the morale and capacity of the insurgents to launch attacks in the
area, a feat that has since seen many settlements liberated, roads
reopened and hope restored. I call on the global community to join
hands with Nigeria to rebuild the overwhelming destruction of the
North East,” he stated.
According to him, the world that is today embattled by challenges with
no easy answers ranging from climate change, regional conflicts and
terrorism.
He lamented that the conflicts have brought in their wake the problem
of internal destitution, displacement and dislocation of people,
adding that democracy and development cannot take place in this type
of atmosphere.
He stated that the challenge the global community now faces is how to
quickly turn the tide around to achieve sustainable development.
Saraki said: “Since 2009, we have seen many of our innocent citizens
brutally and senselessly murdered and others rendered internally
displaced. The idea of a 15-year-old girl suicide bomber, wherever it
may be in the world, be it in the Middle East, South America, Asia or
in my country Nigeria is not the world of our dream. It is not
reflective of a world where sustainable development is the agenda.
“Surely, it is not a local problem. Terrorism is evil that we must
confront. Its brutality, lack of purpose and cross border activities
makes it imperative that we adopt a global approach in tackling it.
Terrorism in one part of the world is no more important than in
another,” he stated.
He further bemoaned the plight of the internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) in the Northeast and other parts of the country, saying the
human misery in the various camps he recently visited is horrendous.
He said: “Nowhere are these challenges more keenly felt, than in the
plight of displaced persons, migrants and refugees, where due to
conflict and natural disasters, citizens are bereft of human rights,
even certifiable citizenship identities, such as the ongoing
situations in North-East Nigeria, with the attendant shockwaves being
felt in other parts of the world through the rising tides of unsafe
and unregulated, emergency migration, to Europe and other regions.
“In my country alone, we have seen the displacement of over 2m persons
and about 10,000 children orphaned by the Boko Haram conflict. The
human misery has been unspeakable. I had the opportunity of an entire
day visiting from camp to camp some of the IDP, to see first hand the
real suffering that thousand of mostly women and children are going
through. It’s horrendous,” he said.
He called on his colleagues to ensure the success of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) through enabling laws that will ensure the
smooth implementation of embedded policies and programmes for the
benefit of the global state.
He added: “The legislature surely has a critical role to play in
providing the underpinnings that would help create a new global regime
that is able to deal with these challenges in terms of laws and
oversight.
“Thankfully, the United Nations has taken the right steps in involving
the legislature early in the process of the adoption of the
Sustainable Development Goals. We must now speak and act in unison.
“We must play our role to see it to the next level. The IPU has a duty
of galvanizing member state support and action in these regards. Most
of all whatever we do we must keep in mind that without peace it is
impossible to achieve sustainable development,” he stated.
Saraki thanked the UN for involving the legislature early in the
process of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, saying
it is time for action to make it work.
He said: “We must now speak and act in unison. No excuses. We must
play our role to see it to the next level. The IPU has a duty to
galvanize member states support and action in these regards,” he
stated.
He noted that with historic success of the 2015 general elections, the
Nigeria demonstrated an abiding commitment to democracy especially
with the country’s rather long history of military rule, and its
location on a continent still dotted by sit-tight presidents.
The Senate President said: “However, while the rest of the world has
acknowledged this Nigerian achievement and have rejoiced with us
accordingly, those of us in leadership position understand that an
election by itself does not make democracy.
“Our democracy will only be strengthened if it is able to guarantee
also, better life and security for our people. This is where the
challenge then lies. How then do we guarantee better life for our
people in the mist of terrorism, insecurity and corruption?”
However, he assured participants at the conference that the Nigerian
parliament is committed and ready to play its part to deliver
successful results.
He said: “Terrorism threatens our democracy, our unity and our effort
towards sustainable development. Boko Haram represents the greatest
threat we face. The insurgency’s senseless terror has brought untold
destruction and hardship on our people in the North East of the
country.
“The plight of people fleeing conflict zones in search of peace and
better life must task our abilities on how we can build inclusive
sustainable development, one that sees them as having a share in this
new world order.
“Today, more and more people have become displaced by conflict than
ever since World War II. This displacement is creating a new kind of
conflict arising from desperate poverty, and identity and resource
crises in an unwelcoming world,” he said.