18th October, 2019
By Jethro Ibileke
The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Gambia to the United Nations Organisation, Mr. Lang Yabou, has described rising inequality and social exclusion, as threat to peace and sustainable development on the African continent.
He added that millions of African youths may be lost to despair and idleness, and with dire consequences.
Yabou made the assertion on Thursday, while delivering the first eminent lecture series of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, with the title: “Sustainable peace, security and social inclusion as catalysts for African’s future and development.”
He said there was an urgent need to create millions of jobs for the unemployed youths for peace and security to thrive on the continent.
According to him, “Africa is considered the continent of the future today, so African governments must therefore invest in their peoples by giving them skills, capacities and opportunities to be self-reliant.”
According to him, poor service-delivery, feelings of marginalization by citizens and communities and alienation of the people from their governments easily turns into conflict and open hostilities.
“To achieve accelerated peace and security in Africa, we must engage in proactive, holistic and inclusive approaches to conflict prevention. There must also be local ownership of the initiatives to enhance inclusion and sustainability.
“African governments must prioritize infrastructural development by investing in new and smart technologies with a view to leap-frogging the economic competitiveness of the continent for sustainable development,” Yabou said.
The Gambian ambassador urged the new African Union Development Agency to invest in continental projects that promote trade, job creation and regional integration across the continent.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the lecture series is one of the platform for exchanging knowledge, town and gown interface.
He said because the University places perception on the nexus between peace and development, it was what informed the establishment of the first centre for contemporary security affairs to interrogate national, regional, continental and global security issues and provide panaceas for development.