The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has arrived Abuja from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital where he attended the Third Forum of the African Conference for Peace.
Buhari’s Leonardo AW139 helicopter conveying him from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport arrived at Aso Rock Villa a few minutes before 04:00 pm; concluding his first foreign trip in 2023.
In Mauritania, the President revealed that his regime spent over $1bn to reclaim Boko Haram-held territories in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe since 2015.
However, he lamented that Nigeria’s security and that of the Lake Chad Basin remain unstable due to lingering conflicts in Libya, the Central African Republic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Buhari premised his argument on the free circulation of “all sorts of small and light weapons” orchestrated by foreign fighters.
He also argued that the idleness of African youths and non-inclusion in discussing issues that concern them is providing a steady recruitment pool for extremist organisations wreaking havoc in various parts of the continent.
Therefore, he urged African leaders to place a premium on youth development, with more seriousness and actionable ideas in promoting skills acquisition while discouraging idleness.
The President also received the “Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa” conferred upon him by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum at the conference.
