SARAKI CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON N/EAST
SARAKI CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON N/EAST
The President of the Senate, Dr.
Bukola Saraki, has called for international conference on North East and Boko
Haram threat in Nigeria. He made the call during General Debate at the 137
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly on Sunday at St. Petersburg, Russia.
President of the Nigerian 8th Senate,
Dr. Bukola Saraki
Saraki, who lamented the havoc caused by insecurity in the
region, said while Nigerian government was doing its best to tackle the
problem, international interventions were necessary. According to him,
convening an international conference like the one convened in London on
Somalia and Syria will go a long way in finding lasting solution to the problem
in the region. He added that “Nigeria’s North East region has suffered terribly
as a result of the onslaught of Boko Haram insurgents. “Two million Nigerians
are internally displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries like the Lake
Chad region, where 4.4 million people are threatened by food insecurity. “Of
the fund e Lake Chad region as the most neglected humanitarian crisis in the
world.
“The 8th National Assemblyneeded to
address the problem, less than half has been raised. The UN has described the
situation in th is at the forefront of improved coordination efforts to
overcome institutional and logistic impediments in the way of getting aid for
those in need. “We have reached an advanced stage in plans for a development
commission to tackle the crisis in the North East; incidentally, the region has
the highest poverty rate in the country. “We have also made economic growth and
greater investment the core of our legislative agenda. “The sooner we deliver
economic reforms and greater prosperity to all Nigerians, the sooner we can
achieve more inclusive society and minimise societal divisions and grievances.”
Saraki further pointed out the need
for government to attend to challenges in other parts of the country for
sustainable peace. According to him, Plateau in the Middle Belt region of
Nigeria has been faced with ethnic and religious conflicts, with more than
7,000 people killed in the last decade. He said that the challenge of climate
change led to shrinking of the Lake Chad, which could no longer sustain
thousands of displaced persons camped along its receding banks, especially in
the North of Nigeria. He emphasised among other things, the need to tackle
youth unemployment, poverty, religious intolerance and marginalisation, which
were major factors of restiveness in the country.
He added that “the National Assembly
believes that inter-faith dialogue, especially that driven by women and the
media, can support the role of passing the message of religious tolerance among
the younger generation. “This is because of their influential roles in the
social cultural fabric of the society. “We also cannot overemphasise the
special role education has to play in overcoming prejudices and uprooting
stereotypes, promoting inter-denominational services, as well as cultivating
and promoting shared values. “Parliamentarians can champion the IPU’s core
values of equality, inclusiveness, respect, integrity and solidarity as
necessary tools for bringing about peace through cultural pluralism.
“I urge us to adopt the Tirana Summit
Declaration of 2004 for a world in which religious faiths will not only
co-exist peacefully, but work actively to promote a sense of social cohesion
and collective purpose.” On the theme of the 137th IPU — “Promoting Cultural
Pluralism and Peace Through Interfaith and Inter Ethnic Dialogue” — Saraki said
it was timely in view of the need to seek alternative to war in resolving
conflicts across the globe. He said the ethnic divide and religious antagonism
across the world had opened up new theatres of conflicts leading to heightened
humanitarian crisis; “and something urgent must be done.’’ He added that
“according to the UN, 20 million people are at risk of famine in countries like
Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. “140 million people in 37 countries are in need
of aid; and earlier this year in the Dhaka Declaration, the 136th IPU Assembly
called attention to food insecurity in Yemen, Afghanistan and parts of Africa.
“Indeed, as the IPU President rightly observed, we are entering the age of
famine.”
Saraki expressed concern over increased cases
of hate speeches directed at those who were considered to be different in
culture, tradition and religion. He said there were rising inter-ethnic clashes
with many recorded fatalities and communities displaced. He added that the
diverse cultural, traditional and religious practice across Africa that ought
to be its source of strength had turned out to be a threat to its existence.
According to him, the situation has
led to bloodletting, like the case of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He added
that Nigeria had also experienced a civil war and lately experiencing increased
spate of hate speeches and ethnic conflicts, which was threatening the unity of
the country. “2017 has been a year of unremitting woes. There is no part of the
world that is untouched by trouble and strife, conflicts created by apparent
failure in all spheres to achieve peaceful co-existence.
“In the U.S., white supremacists
engage in pitched battles with anti-fascist and `Black Lives Matter’ protesters
in Charlottesville, Virginia. “The country has been boiling since then as the
fault lines widen between the various segments of American society, giving vent
to long simmering tensions. “In Spain, the reverberations of the Catalan
independence referendum are being felt. Or is it the sporadic bursts of
xenophobic violence in South Africa?. “We will also not forget the
election-related unrest in Kenya, fractured along ethnic lines between the Luos
and the Kikuyus. “We also see again and again the consequences of gaps in
mutual understanding within communities.
“In Myanmar, tensions between the Buddhist
majority and the Muslim Rohingya sent a wave of human misery flowing to the
border of Bangladesh,’’ he said. Saraki, however, expressed optimism that the
137th IPU would offer lasting solution to the growing world conflicts.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/saraki-calls-international-conference-neast/
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/saraki-calls-international-conference-neast/
