$1 billion is being spent to reclaim terrorist-seized territories — Buhari

Nigeria’s security, as well as that of the Lake Chad Basin, is unstable despite spending more than $1 billion since 2015 to retake Boko Haram-held territory in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States. This is because of ongoing conflicts in Libya, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine, as well as Russian aggression.

This was expressed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), on Tuesday, immediately after he was presented with the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum’s “Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa” in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritius.

“Although we are winning the war, however, as a country and sub-region, we continue to be negatively impacted by events in Libya, the Central Africa Republic, The Sahel and the war in Ukraine,” Buhari told his counterparts at the African Conference for Peace, 2023

The President’s claim was based on the widespread use of “all sorts of small and light weapons” that were facilitated by foreign combatants.

He also said that the lack of engagement in discussions of issues that affect them and the laziness of African youngsters serve as a consistent source of new recruits for the extremist groups wreaking havoc throughout the continent.

Therefore, he advised authorities to prioritise youth development, taking it more seriously and coming up with concrete suggestions for encouraging skill acquisition while opposing laziness.

This is said in a statement headed, “President Buhari accepts award for peace in Africa, specifies requirements for future unity,” and written by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President.

The President said, “When I assumed power in 2015, Boko Haram held about two-thirds of Borno State, half of Yobe State, and a couple of local government areas in Adamawa State, all in the North-East of Nigeria.

“We have been able to retrieve these swathes of territories by investing over $1bn to acquire hard and software weaponry from the US and other friendly countries to carry out sustained operations against insurgency since 2015.”

He thought that these funds would have been better used to build essential infrastructure, such hospitals and schools.

“Our Armed Forces and those of our partners in the Multinational Joint Task Force (consisting of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Nigeria) continue to demonstrate great bravery while paying the ultimate price in securing our collective freedom.

“Despite the difficult times we face, we continue to spend very scarce and lean resources to ensure that we have a well-resourced military force to take on this task. Ideally, these are resources that could be spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure and other social services, but without peace, we have learnt the hard way that our children cannot go to school or seek good healthcare,” the President stated.

He added that the situation caused considerable instability and acted as a litmus test for Lake Chad Basin Commission member nations in coming up with solutions to restore the way of life in the area.

The President pleaded with his colleagues to step up their efforts to stop the flow of small arms and light weapons and the infiltration of foreign fighters into Africa.

Buhari stated the next Union Summit must find a practical African solution to resolving the over ten-year instability that made the nation a refuge for all types of weaponry and foreign fighters. Buhari was addressing the current chairwoman of the AU, Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, the president of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, stated in his remarks that the conference subject for 2023 was based on the suggestions made in the “Nouakchott Declaration,” which was the result of the first conference.

According to Bayyah, Buhari received the honour for exercising effective leadership, fostering peace in Nigeria, a multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual nation, and sharing his experience and knowledge with other African nations.