28th September, 2018
President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the pledge by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to help Nigeria tackle Boko Haram insurgency through sound education, among others.
The president made his position known during a bilateral meeting on Thursday, with OIC Secretary-General, Youssef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen.
The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said the meeting was held on the margins of the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York.
Buhari underscored the importance of education in purging the mind of indoctrination, particularly on religion.
He noted that the problem in Nigeria was aggravated by climate change and population explosion.
The Nigerian leader emphasised the need for the recharge of Lake Chad through inter-basin water transfer, “to take care of about 45 million people who depend on the lake for agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, and many others”.
The OIC scribe had told the Nigerian president that the organisation had passed a resolution committing member states to support Nigeria in combating extremism.
He said that the body was ready to use its facilities and institutions to correct the wrong narrative that the Boko Haram insurgency was about Islam.
Al-Othaimeen, who noted that development was essential to addressing extremism, also pledged assistance for Nigeria in that respect.