BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged the support of Nigeria in creating a lasting solution to the political and economic issues confronting countries in the Sahel region.
He stated this on Wednesday in New York, United States at a bilateral meeting with the former President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou on the sidelines of the 77th edition of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 77).
Countries in the Sahel comprise of Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan and Eritrea.
Buhari said that the essence of collaboration between the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Green Great Wall was to combat desertification that is spreading across some African states.
This, he believed would assist in finding practical solutions to the displacement of over 30 million persons whose means of livelihood depended on the shrunken Lake Chad.
The President was optimistic that given his wealth of experience and capacity, that Issoufou would deliver on the job.
On his part, Issoufou, who is also the Special envoy of the UN and African Union on Joint Strategic Assessment and Governance Situation in the Sahel, pleaded with Nigeria to assist in raising funds for their activities especially as desertification advances in other African countries.
He stated that most of the countries in the region were severely challenged, adding that the committee would visit the countries in the region and Nigeria next month to ascertain its specific needs.
The special envoy enjoined Buhari to organise a side-event at the forthcoming 27th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to hold in Egypt on November.
This, he believed would produce tangible outcome that the committee would explore in its report.
President Buhari also held talks with the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, according to a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Mr Femi Adesina.
Buhari stated that the actualisation of the UN resolution which proposed a Two-State solution to the crisis between Israel and Palestine required a viable platform to engage the rest of the world on the issue.
“The rest of the world need to be apprised on current state of things between Palestine and Israel in order to commit to the way forward. There should be a better collaboration between African countries on one side and our Arab brothers to get to the end of this matter,” the president said.
The Palestinian President had visited his Nigerian counterpart to thank him for being a consistent supporter of the Palestinian cause, even as he reflected it in his (Buhari’s) address at the floor of the General Assembly and to solicit his support by rallying other African countries to their side.
He lamented that the Palestinian issue had dragged for a long time without commensurate progress, adding that there is a daily loss of lives on the Palestinian side.
Abbas added that Palestinians had decided to pursue a peaceful path towards resolving the matter by relying on nations like Nigeria to help in a peaceful resolution of the Two-State solution as recommended by the United Nations Resolution.
Comments
Post a Comment