The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has urged Western nations to help develop infrastructure in Nigeria and other developing countries as a means to end terrorism.
Mr Mohammed says terrorism is a global issue with no boundary and “for the world to be saved, every corner of the world must be saved.”
“The western world should look into helping developing nations like Nigeria in developing their infrastructure,” Mr Mohammed said. “This will help to create employment and quality livelihood that will make it difficult for ideological groups like Boko Haram to recruit the youths.’’
The minister stated this in Washington DC during his on-going engagement with various global media outlets, think tanks and media influencers.
Drawing inference from the Afghanistan situation, Mr Mohammed, who interacted with Reuters, Washington Post and Bloomberg via a live streaming news service, underscored the need for the developed world to see terrorism as a global threat and handle it as such.
“We can see from the example of the U.S., where Taliban takes over Afghanistan, a pointer to how difficult it is to fight terrorism driven by ideology,” he emphasised
The minister said that Nigeria welcomed the support received from the U.S. and other countries in fighting Boko Haram insurgency.
He added that more help especially in funding infrastructure and global support in fighting terrorism would go a long way in stamping out the menace.
Mr Mohammed then justified the Abuja approach to tackling insurgency, saying the Afghanistan debacle should make the world to appreciate Nigeria more in the methods deployed in fighting the asymmetric warfare.
He said that the development had proven right the position of President Muhammadu Buhari that when fighting an unconventional war, the country had to be resourceful
“If what happened in Afghanistan is something to go by, then the federal government should be given kudos for the way it has handled insurgency in the last couple of years.
The Buhari regime has been granting amnesty to Boko Haram fighters through its “Operation Safe Corridors” which encourages the insurgents to surrender in exchange for rehabilitation.
There have, however, been complaints, one of such from Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, that the scheme is failing as rehabilitated jihadists often return to the trenches after studying the environment and later return to attack.
(NAN)
