Nigeria: Boko Haram - It's Now Fire For Fire - Jonathan

Abuja — President Goodluck Jonathan has sent a
strong message to the Boko Haram terror group that
th Nigerian government would no longer treat it with
kid gloves.
Speaking in Windhoek, Namibia during bilateral talks
with President Hifikepunye Pohamba at the
Conference Hall of the Namibia State House,
President Jonathan solicited the support of other
countries in the fight against terrorism, saying a
terror attack on one country is an attack on all
countries.
He said: "The issue of global terror is worrisome and
in Nigeria, we believe that a terror attack anywhere in
the world is a terror attack on everyone.
"It may be more in one country compared to the other.
For instance, in the North Eastern part of Nigeria, we
are having incidence of terror in three states out of
36 states.
"Initially, we handled it with kid gloves but now we
have decided to be a little more forceful because we
must thrash out these terror groups. We must not
allow them to continue to slow down economic growth
in that part of the country.
"With the terror attacks in that part of the country,
the rest of the country feel it because Nigerians live
everywhere. In these other parts, there is always the
fear that if you do not tackle it, it will spread to other
parts. We will work together to ensure that terror
attack is stamped out globally and in Nigeria we are
committed."
Restructuring of UN Security Council
While thanking the Namibian President for his
country's support of Nigeria's election as
non‑permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council, President Jonathan called for the
restructuring of the UN Security Council to make it
more democratic, adding that Africa should be given
at least two seats in the UN Security Council.
He said: "I also believe in your philosophy that if by
God's grace, the UN Security Council will be
restructured, that is, if the super powers will allow it
to be restructured, Africa should be considered at
least for two positions to represent the interest of
African people.
"I always say that we cannot talk of democracy when
the strongest institutions globally are not democratic
but dictated to by one country alone.
"If we must practice democracy and emphasise that
all countries must be democratic, we need to start
from these powerful UN institutions that all parts of
the globe must have a say there."
Economic integration
While calling on African leaders to promote
intra‑African trade for job creation and the
development of the continent, the President
emphasised that the continent must consolidate the
regional economic blocs for economic integration.
He said: "If we can consolidate the regional economic
blocs to become solid, then, we can integrate the
economic blocs before going to political integration. I
always believe that our founding fathers in the days of
OAU, their vision was for Africa to become a single
big continent.
"I remember the late President of Libya, Muammar
Gaddafi, his dream was that political boundaries
should collapse in Africa. But we believe that it is good
to envision that kind of development, but first, we
must consolidate the regional economic blocs."
While congratulating the Namibian President on the
occasion of the 24th anniversary of the country,
President Jonathan said considering the circumstances
Namibia attained independence, the event is worth
celebrating.
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