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| Gambian leader, Yahya Jammeh |
The president of the Republic
has called for concerted efforts to combat terrorism on the continent,
condemning the current string of violence in Nigeria, meted out on innocent
civilians by the group ‘Boko Haram’.
Speaking at the Banjul
International Airport Friday evening upon his return from Nigeria where he took
part in a human security summit as part of activities marking that country’s
centenary, His Excellency Shiekh Prof. Alh. Dr. Yahya Jammeh lamented the
myriad of proxy wars on the continent, noting that such could only
retard progress.
“It has to be a concerted effort to
fight terrorism,” he reiterated, calling on African leaders to work together
and fight the common enemy – terrorism and other violent crimes.
The Gambian leader said it is his
conviction that if everyone is committed to the fight against terrorism, there
wouldn’t be any such menace in that they [terrorists] would not be safe
anywhere to perpetuate acts of violence against innocent people.
“We the heads of states have
realised that whatever group they are called in Nigeria, it is a criminal
enterprise,” he remarked, questioning the wisdom of killing innocent people in
the name of Islam. “So terrorism is not for one country to fight it,
especially we in Africa given the porosity of our borders,” he told reporters.
Jammeh also condemned the fact that
certain “crooks” are being used by outside forces in the name of religion or
tribe to take on a government in a country that is rapidly developing.
Deploring this status quo, the
president, noted that, they are engineered by those who don’t want to see the
African continent develop. “[This] is because if Africa is to develop and
industrialise, there are not going to be industries in the North. Industries in
the developed world depend entirely on raw materials from Africa,” he
noted.
The Gambian leader said they
[leaders] have now understood that as long as there is fighting anywhere in
Africa, it would affect them all and retard the development of the continent.
“It is one step forward and
the heads of states understood this and have spoken about it. Not only did they
talk about what is happening in Nigeria, but the fact that we the heads of
states should work together and fight the common enemy. Any war in Africa is
going to retard our development,” he reiterated.
The president further deplored as
“disheartening” the continued slaughtering of innocent Muslims and other
civilians in the name of Islam, saying such acts are un-Islamic.
“You cannot kill people in the name
of Islam and after all what would propel a true Muslim or a true believer to go
and kill students sleeping in a hostel?” he queried the wisdom, referring to
the recent massacring of college students in Yobe State in Northeastern
Nigeria.
“What have the students got to do
with Nigeria’s politics” he queried, adding; “They are going to school, so we
have to distinguish people that may fight for a genuine cause and the only time
people were fighting for a genuine cause is when they are fighting against
colonialism”.
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