U.S. recommends ‘painstaking dialogue’ to solve Nigeria’s security challenges
U.S. recommends ‘painstaking dialogue’ to solve Nigeria’s security challenges
Look beyond a military option in resolving internal conflicts, the United States (U.S.) yesterday counselled the Federal Government.
The appeal was made under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace, (USIP), in Washington DC when the agency convened a gathering of U.S. officials, diplomats and Nigerian leaders.
The conference focused on “Peace in Nigeria: How to build it, and America’s role”. It explored possible options beyond military operations.
The symposium agreed on the need for the federal government to strengthen the responsiveness of state institutions, address grievances and perceptions “before they become reality and improve accountability and transparency”.
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations, U.S. Department of State, Thomas Hushek, in his concluding remarks said, “durable peace” in Nigeria “will require a painstaking dialogue”.
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Re-echoing General Martin-Luther Agwai’s introductory remarks on centrality of the country to potential peace in Africa, Hushek described Nigeria as a very critical U.S. partner on the continent, but added that the President Muhammadu Buhari government must in its pursuit of peace first identify the options that citizens want implemented.
The country is warming up to charged elections in two years and the U.S. assistant secretary believes the “2019 election will be critical to Nigeria’s continued prosperity and stability.
Former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff and former commander of the combined United Nations-African Union peace-keeping force in Darfur, Sudan, Gen. Agwai, is one of the members of the Nigeria Senior Working Group that participated in the conference on peace in Nigeria.
