President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the African Union (AU) cannot afford to allow armed conflicts to continue on the continent.
Buhari said this at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday at the conclusion of the 26th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government.
He told fellow African leaders that it was high time the AU’s vision to silence the guns and reduce preventable conflict-related deaths on the continent by 2020 was realized.
He regretted that rather than face developmental challenges confronting Africa, the continent was using its scarce resources on armed conflicts.
Buhari urged the leaders to forge a united front with a view to eliminating terrorism and focusing on the noble goals of Agenda 2063, as espoused by the African Union.
He said: “We have all shed blood for Africa to be free, but the irony is that today, we are now killing each other. Rather than facing the developmental challenges confronting us, we are spending our scarce resources killing our children and inflicting unspeakable horrors and unimaginable hardship on our brothers and sisters. That is truly a tragedy and it must stop. Enough is Enough! Within the framework of the African Union, we have to, as a matter of urgency, reach a consensus on how to silence the guns. Not by 2020, but now. Why must we wait? We must say ‘NO’ to wars and conflicts on our continent.”
Assuring of his administration’s determination to defeat terrorism and end the war against the Boko Haram insurgency, he said through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Nigeria would continue to partner with other member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic.
Buhari also reaffirmed that having released $21m to MNJTF last June, Nigeria would soon fully redeem her pledge of $100m to enhance the operations of the force.
