By Timothy Olanrewaju
LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said Monday that terrorism is an "imported evil" and a burden to the African continent.
In an address at the opening of a two-day high-level African counter-terrorism summit in the capital Abuja, Tinubu said that billions of funds that ought to be used for health care, education and infrastructure development in the continent are spent annually for the acquisition of weapons to fight terrorists.
"We must tell this imported evil that wants to bend and break us that it shall do neither. Instead of making us bow, we shall banish it,” he said.
He said terrorists seek to foster despotism on the continent and uproot democracy and obstruct peace, stability and socio-economic activities of many nations in the content. He urged African leaders to address poverty and improve education in addition to the military approach to countering terrorism.
The Nigerian leader also asked his colleagues in the region to focus on illegal mining for terrorism financing.
"Those who think illegal mining has no connection with financing terrorism are sorely mistaken. The international community has both the moral and legal obligation to help in this cause because it is external finance, not African money, that fuels these illegal operations," he said.
Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, said the meeting was aimed at addressing the evolving threat of terrorism in the continent.
He said that terrorist groups such as Daesh/ISIS and Al-Qaida and their affiliates are moving southward to the Gulf of Guinea in southern and central Africa after establishing themselves in the Sahel and called for more cooperation among the continent’s leaders to stop terrorist expansion.
The summit, with the theme Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism in Africa, is being attended by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, presidents and heads of state and governments of many African nations and top UN officials.