Buhari request for N4bn to fight B’Haram

Firstclass newsline learnt that president Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday
said he had directed that $21m out of the pledge of $100m which
Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint Task Force be released within
the next one week.
Buhari disclosed this at the 25th AU summit in Johannesburg, South
Africa. He chaired the Peace Security Council at the event.
He said he gave the directive based on the decision of the recent
extraordinary summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin that
$30m should be immediately made available to the MNJTF which is
saddled with the responsibility of fighting Boko Haram.
The President said although the sect had extended its reach to
Nigeria's neighbours, its activities were not limited to them because
terrorism is a global phenomenon.
He said the global nature of terror required all countries to act in
partnership by waging war against agents of evil.
He said, "I am pleased to note that Cameroon, Chad and Niger are
already showing this attribute by fighting alongside Nigeria under the
umbrella of the MNJTF to defeat Boko Haram.
"In this regard, the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin
Commission and Benin met recently where far-reaching decisions were
taken to immediately put into operations the MNJTF.
"To this end, the summit approved the immediate provision of $30m for
the task force.
"Consequently, out of the pledge of $100m which Nigeria made to the
task force, I have directed that $21m be released within the next
one week."
The President regretted that the continent was indunated with
conflicts of diverse forms in Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central
Africa Republic, South Sudan, and more recently in Burundi.
On the crisis in South Sudan and Burundi, Buhari regretted that the
people were suffering while their political leaders were busy
bickering.
He stressed the need for leaders to always place the interest of their
countries above narrow and personal interests.
Buhari expressed the hope that the PSC would come out with a united
message to call on all parties to act in the interest of their people
and the entire continent.
Calling for a change of the face of Africa, Buhari said leaders must
deliver a continent "that is at peace with itself, prosperous, a
global partner and a democratic showcase."
He however doubted the possibility of achieving the desired peace by
2020 as earlier planned by African leaders.
The President added, "As you are aware in 2013 during the 50th
anniversary celebration of our union, we as African leaders committed
ourselves to the objective of silencing the local guns in Africa by
2020.
"With just five years remaining, the prospect of realising this
objective looks doubtful with pockets of violence in individual
countries and the continent as a whole."
He said Africans were witnesses to the rampant destruction of homes,
roads, communication lines, vital infrastructure and displacement of
persons and loss of lives on the continent.
This, Buhari added, is true of the North Eastern part of Nigeria where
the country is dealing with the scourge of Boko Haram.
The ongoing AU Summit is Buhari's first continental assignment after
he was inaugurated on May 29.
He was accompanied to the event by the Ogun State Governor
Ibikunle Amosun; Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and a former
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, among others.
The President is expected back in the country on Tuesday.
Firstclassnewsline.net