24th September, 2014
Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, has called on the international community to cooperate with Africa countries in fighting terror in order to avoid a greater threat to World peace and stability.
Maku made the call when he received German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Peter Zenner, in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the World may witness greater terror and destabilisation, if it does not join forces and ideas to help the region fight terrorism.
“As Africa democratises, we need to work closer. We need the help of Europe to deal with some teething problems of our democracies, particularly with the advent of terror which started with the Sept. 11 attack in the United States.
“It has become very deep in the Middle-East and has now crossed to the Sahel region of Africa, including Nigeria. So, this is a very serious and a global threat to economic prosperity and human security.
“As we have seen, if we allow any part of the world to become an incubator for the training of terrorists, those terrorists will strike at every nation; so, we must deal with it like the Ebola epidemic.
“Once you have an epidemic in one part of the World, it will be a problem for other parts of the World. Terrorism must not be allowed space, it must be seen as an international problem, as a threat to human civilisation.
“It is wiser that we all cooperate and deal with it as fast as possible. Nigeria is already doing what we need to do to deal with it and we thank the Germany and the rest of Europe for the support,” he said.
Maku commended Germany for the support it had rendered to Nigeria in the nation’s quest for economic and democratic advancement with many German companies operating efficiently in Nigeria.
He said the collaborations would go a long way in attaining developmental strides for the two nations, adding that Nigeria was willing to deepen its relationship with Germany.
The ambassador said Germany would not relent in advancing its relationship with Nigeria.
Zenner said that the signing of the Nigeria-Germany Bi-National Commission, which was signed in 2011, was a proof of the growing cooperation between the two nations.