COVID-19: Buhari seeks stronger economic, military ties with France

Tackling the economic challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic requires strong combination of economic and security strategies.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, while contributing to debates on the African Finance Summit holding in Paris, France, on Tuesday, said Africa and France must strengthen ties to deal with the continent’s challenges

The president while assessing the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic observed a strong correlation between the pandemic and insecurity, especially in Africa and therefore, called on the French Government to foster stronger synergy with the continent in tackling the issues.

Security conflict and COVID-19, he said, “have not been far apart”.

The president, noted that as governments struggle to contain COVID, “jihadists have taken advantage in the Sahel”, a vast arid stretch of territory that lies between the Sahara and Sub-saharan Africa.

“Terrorist incidents have become tragically common across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Around the Lake Chad Basin, Boko Haram terrorists have taken advantage of the pandemic and pushed back into my country Nigeria, whilst still launching raids and attacks in Chad, Cameroon, and Niger”

“We have seen more than once how Boko Haram can regroup, morphing in form and tactics”

The terrorists which years ago, were a territory- less group, have continued to grow, controlling an area in Nigeria three times the size of Lebanon.

As instability spread, so also the networks that sustain it have strengthened, including the weapons supply chains from Libya, or the ideological imports of Al-qaeda and ISIS from the Middle East.

So also are the trafficking networks that take money from those escaping instability and feed it back into the system that generates it.

Meanwhile, the infection spreading further afield and reaching into the heart of Europe and France is not being spared the malignant, with innocents murdered on its streets. In that context, our fate is linked. Hence Paris has been active in this common fight.

The French Operation Barkhane has provided critical boots on the ground in shoring up security across our region.

Though challenges remain, it has ensured that a wide expanse of territory has not descended into the lawless playground where terrorists masquerading as fighting for Islam groups can freely flourish and multiply.

Buhari noted that that assistance has been profoundly appreciated in the region.

He added: “Now Nigeria and France should deepen our anti-terror cooperation if we are to overcome this scourge – particularly in the aftermath of the murder of the late President of Chad. Where for historical ties, support came to Nigeria from the UK, and to the G5 from France, the terrorists do not recognise these border-aligned distinctions. We must be agile and flexible, cooperating across our borders to cut the head off their groups”

The president commended the French Government for “doing much to strengthen our bond” noting that intelligence sharing is well developed, along with training against improvised explosives. “There is more we can do in crossborder military exercises and coordinating strategy.”

“At the same time, we know France has borne much of the strain for combating terrorism in the region, and we – the leaders of Sahel countries – must also do more to present a unified front to lobby other Western nations, particularly Great Britain and the United States and the European Union for further military and humanitarian assistance.”

Speaking on the need for stronger economic ties, Buhari observed that “military gains do not provide the whole solution”

For the Nigerian leader, “economic opportunity remains fragile, without security, without economic opportunity, the propensity for conflict grows”

The solution, he said must therefore be two-pronged. “If we do improve those conditions, it leaves our people vulnerable to indoctrination, as one is vulnerable to COVID-19 without a vaccine.”

He observed that in the Sahel, crises converge, traditionally; the vast arid land has been poorer than its Mediterranean neighbours to the north and fertile land to its South.

Now, climate change and environmental degradation squeeze the region of water sources, draining opportunity and increasing competition amongst various groups for scarce resources.