President Buhari
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration had been overwhelmed by the efforts to tackle insecurity arising from Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and oil theft in the South South region of the country.
He spoke on Thursday, when he received the President of Togo, Mr Faure Gnassingbe, at the Presidential Villa.
The Togolese president was in Nigeria to invite Buhari to a summit on maritime security and development in Togo, holding in November.
President Buhari called for more cooperation among African countries to combat terrorism, piracy and other security challenges facing the sub-region, saying no meaningful development could take place without security.
He also said African leaders must pay greater attention to development of agriculture and manufacturing sector, in order to provide jobs for unemployed youths.
He appreciated the visit of Gnassingbe to Nigeria and his concern about regional security, Boko Haram insurgency, oil theft, illegal fishing, oil pollution and the dumping of toxins.
“His (Gnassingbe’s) concern about regional security made it imperative for him to organise a summit on maritime security and development in November, to examine a lot of issues.
“As for Nigeria, we are grateful for the sympathy and the goodwill expressed, touching on the performance of our armed forces and law enforcement agencies since this administration came into being.
“It is is not easy trying to fight on so many fronts, the North-East, the South-South and then try to provide infrastructure in our country,” he said.
Buhari told his guest that the cooperation of the regional countries, comprising Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, had resulted in the isolation of Boko Haram and the peace which is gradually returning into the country.
Earlier, the Togolese president, in his remark, had commended Buhari and the Nigerian security forces for combating terrorism in West Africa.
He disclosed that piracy alone cost the Gulf of Guinea $7 billion a year, for not fighting the menace of maritime insecurity.
He informed Buhari that the security summit being hosted by his country would deal with issues of piracy, oil theft, environmental pollution, immigration, as well as human and drug trafficking.
When asked by journalists if African countries were not hosting too many summits, Gnassingbe disagreed, saying the summits were not enough.
“Piracy alone costs the Gulf of Guinea $7 billion a year, that is what we lose for not combatting it and we also know that without cooperation, you cannot combat piracy, but the first stage is to come together and talk," he said.
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