29th September, 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has cautioned the United Nations and world leaders against concentrating on terrorism as the only evil that is troubling the world.
Buhari who addressed the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly gave a list of evil that are troubling the world and that require urgent attention.
In his speech he said, “Mr. President, terrorism is by no means the major or the only evil threatening and undermining the wellbeing of societies around the world.
• Corruption
• Cross border financial crimes
• Cyber crimes
• Human trafficking
• Spread of communicable diseases
• Climate change
• Proliferation of weapons
are all major challenges of the 21st century which the international community must tackle collectively. Let me reaffirm Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption and illicit financial flows. By any consideration, corruption and cross border financial crimes are impediments to development, economic growth, and the realization of the wellbeing of citizens across the globe,” he said.
He noted his country’s willingness to curb these evil. “Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to confront crimes and corruption. In particular, I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.
“Mr. President, the world is now facing a big new challenge: human trafficking. This is an old evil taking an altogether new and dangerous dimension threatening to upset international relationships. We in Africa are grieved to see on international networks how hundreds of thousands of our able bodied men and women fleeing to Europe and in the process thousands dying in the desert or drowning in the Mediterranean.
“We condemn in the strongest terms these people traffickers and will support any measures to apprehend and bring them to justice. At the same time, we are very appreciative of European governments notably Italy and Germany, for their understanding and humane treatment of these refugees,” Buhari said.
He added that: “Last year, our continent faced the dreadful occurrence of Ebola. We sincerely thank the international community for the collective efforts to contain this deadly disease. We are not out of the woods yet but we would like to record our appreciation to the United States, United Kingdom, France and China for their outstanding assistance in arresting the spread of Ebola and care of those infected in collaboration with host countries.”