CITIZENS COMPASS— CNN’s Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga speak with Nigerian Foreign Minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, live from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland about Nigeria’s heightened security concerns after over 170 worshippers were kidnapped during church services in northern Kaduna over the weekend.
In response to the questions from Asher on what concrete steps the Nigerian government is taking to ensure that the most vulnerable populations across Nigeria are safe and protected, Tuggar emphasised Nigeria’s “partnership with the United States of America.”
Tuggar addresses the outcome of the U.S ordered strike against Islamic State targets in Northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day, saying, “As is the case with some of these strikes, sometimes you don’t get the right target, but it underscores the willingness of Nigeria and the United States and indeed other countries towards a better understanding of the conflict in the region.”
Tuggar furthers Nigeria’s commitment to fighting terrorism, “regionally, we’re doing a lot. It’s Nigeria that is shouldering a lot of responsibilities.”
Key quotes from Tuggar:
On the steps the Nigerian government are taking to protect the vulnerable:
“There have been so many steps that have been taken. The partnership with the United States of America in targeting some of the band aids and terrorists in the hideouts. And this is something that we have always called for, that the Tinubu Administration has always called for partners to join with us, because we have always been a regional anchor. So, it’s also a matter of narratives. It’s very important to see the conflict for what it is. It’s a regional conflict that has spilled over into Nigeria. It is not removed from the conflict in the Sahel. It’s not removed from what happened in Libya many years ago. It’s not removed from the proliferation of weaponry, of fighters and climate change issues and so many other complex issues.”
“We have forest guards. We have several other initiatives. In fact, we had done very well with the fight against Boko Haram. We were trying to sort out the thousands that had surrendered. Some were innocent, victims caught in conflict areas until the coup in Niger, and Niger pulled out of the Multinational Joint Task Force that was working so well, because it allowed for the right of pursuit. It allows for soldiers, Nigerian soldiers, to pursue terrorists in Tunisia and vice versa.”
On ensuring investors and world business leaders see Nigeria as a place of stability:
“The fact that there is an incident in a country of 923,000 square kilometers does not mean you write off the entire country, and some of the conversations that are taking place here also have to do with Africa’s risk bias, where the issue of risk, geopolitical risk in particular, is overhyped when it comes to Africa, which doesn’t apply in other parts of the world.”
“It’s very important we look at the progress that the Tinubu Administration has been making with macro-economic reforms, with the tax reforms that make it easier for investors to come into Nigeria, lowering of corporate income tax, and reform of the foreign exchange. We can actually come to Davos and use our Nigerian cards here, credit cards without a limit, 43 billion in foreign reserves. I can go on and on and on.”
On the number of terrorists that were killed as a result of the partnership with the United States:
“As is the case with some of these strikes, sometimes you don’t get the right target, but it underscores the willingness of Nigeria and the United States and indeed other countries towards a better understanding of the conflict in the region and to work together towards bringing it to an end, because it is a conflict that affects the entire planet. The West African region and the Sahel and Lake Chad regions in particular are among the fastest growing regions in the world. Nigeria is going to be 400 million in the next 24 years. The African continent is going to be the most populous.”
“It’s important that we nip these conflicts at the bud, so that they don’t spill over into other continents. So that the Sahel does not become a breeding ground for terrorism, for extremism, for all sorts of criminal activity (…).
We need to be supported with the equipment. We need to be supported with the training. And more importantly, we need to be supported with the understanding and the right framing to what is happening in our region and what is happening in the country.”
—CNN
