ABUJA – Dr Mohammed Pate, a former Minister of State for Health, has advised that countries should address the underlying environment allowing the development of terrorist ideology.
Pate said this in reaction to President Goodluck Jonathan’s call while addressing the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly New York on Wednesday.
Pate resigned from Jonathan’s cabinet in 2013 to take up appointment as a Professor at Duke University Global Health Institute, U.S., and also serves as Senior Adviser to the Washington DC-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
He also serves on the agenda committee of the World Economic Forum.
Jonathan, in his speech, canvassed for “innovative responses’’ from world leaders in the fight against terrorism.
He appealed for support for frontline countries battling insurgency in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, Pate stressed that issues such as abject poverty, youth unemployment and poor education must be addressed in order to eradicate terrorism.
“I fully support the President’s call for global cooperation to fight the global phenomenon of terrorism.
“ Particularly that the frontline countries must be strengthened in the fight. But I also think the underlying environment that allows the terrorist ideology to develop must be addressed.
“Abject poverty, youth unemployment, poor education and atmosphere of hopelessness leaves young people with narrower options and makes them easier prey for terrorists to recruit.’’
On the issue of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Pate said that the world must focus attention on global public goods.
He stress that virus knows no boundaries and can move rapidly to cause devastation from one part of the world to the other.
Reacting to Jonathan’s call for international corporation in fighting terrorism, Mr George Iwuoha, a civil servant described it as a welcome development.
Iwuoha, however said:“But I will advise that we should not expect much from the international community due to the fact that their involvement in any fight against terrorism has always been dictated by economic interest. [eap_ad_1] “They have nothing to gain from the fight against Boko Haram as it is today; except when it is allowed to escalate to cover either the whole of Nigeria or the whole of Sahel Africa.
“The best we can do as a nation is to battle the insurgency ourselves like a full-fledged war,’’ he said.
Also commenting, Mr Christian Nze, a Public Servant, also described the idea as a welcome development.
He said that insurgency had become a canker worm in the polity, adding that the Federal Government alone may not be able to fight terrorism in the northern part of the country.
“I believe that with foreign assistance and maximum cooperation of Nigerians, especially the Northern elites, terrorism in that part of the country will come to an end.
“I say this because the recent successes recorded by our military were attributed to the useful information supplied by the residents of the affected areas,’’ Nze said. (NAN)
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