At AU summit, Buhari delivers touching message on guns, conflict

0
166

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the African Union’s (AU) vision to silence the guns and reduce preventable conflict-related deaths in the continent by 2020 must be achieved ‘now’.
This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari.
The statement said that the president was speaking at the 26th AU summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday.
President Buhari decried the use of scarce resources in Africa on armed conflicts rather than economic and social development of the continent.
The President challenged fellow African leaders to engage decisively with the people and government of South Sudan and Burundi to bring the conflicts they faced to a speedy end.
He added that African leaders must also forge a united front to rid the continent of the scourge of terrorism and face together with determination the noble goals of Agenda 2063, as espoused by the AU.
President Muhammadu Buhari (M) with former presidents, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar (L) and Chief Ousegun Obasanjo at AU Summit in Ethiopia
“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,” the President maintained.
President Muhammadu Buhari shake hands with President AbdelFattah el-Sisi of Egypt
He restated Nigeria’s …Read More

Source:: PM Newspaper