Tuggar says Nigeria fighting on everyone’s frontline to defend West Africa against terrorists
Foreign affairs minister, Yusuf Tuggar, hass aid Nigeria is battling insecurity on behalf of the entire West African region.
Recently, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after military coups in those countries.
Speaking at Chatham House in London, Tuggar stat e that the countries that left ECOWAS have consistently rejected peace overtures down, saying, “every time we extend an olive branch, they wield it as a stick to strike us.”
Tuggar said Nigeria takes its regional responsibilities seriously.
“We have shown that ECOWAS has a distinct identity and that, for all its faults, it has made progress that will leave those on the outside literally and figuratively poorer for it,” he said.
“We have seen the departure of French and US forces from the region, with varying degrees of reluctance.
“There’s no ‘security backstop’ that we, as Nigeria and the region, will not provide for ourselves. And that may not be a bad thing.
“But don’t for a moment think that the Russian private security companies or the jihadist groups in the Sahel that are taking the place of the French and the Americans lack ambition.
“Nigeria is fighting on everyone’s frontline. We take our responsibilities seriously.
“Irregular migration is a doorstep political issue in Europe, but it is a huge challenge also for those countries that are haemorrhaging talent and those for whom they pass through.
“That is why we urge a balance in resources deployed to keep people out and programmes and policies around trade and financing that might encourage people to stay in.”
