ALTHOUGH offering once again the help and assistance of the United Nations in the fight against Boko Haram,
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has asked the Federal Government to mobilise the needed forces to quell the Boko Haram terror attacks, just as he lamented that the situation in Sudan and South Sudan continues to be testy.
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at his first press conference in the year, as he begins his second term of five years in office, the UN Secretary-General affirmed his condemnation of the Boko Haram menace as a terrorist act that the global community has to come together and fight.
In response to a question on why some of the UN statements refrain from describing the Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria as a terrorist act, Ban said “I have, on many occasions, strongly condemned these terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, including that time of the attack against the UN House last year.”
But at the press conference held in New York, the UN scribe added that “the Nigerian government should also mobilise full possible forces to address these Boko Haram terrorist attacks.”
Promising that the UN on its part “will coordinate with the concerned parties, international organisations and regional organisations,” to address the problem, he disclosed that he had already made a specific proposal on Wednesday while meeting the UN General Assembly.
That proposal which will strengthen UN capacity in the area of counter-terrorism, according to him, includes the need to have “a single coordinated counter-terrorism mechanism combining the currently existing functions.”
Disclosing that this proposal had received support from several member states already he also added that “we have established a counter-terrorism centre in Saudi Arabia.”
In the light of that, the Secretary-General said, “I am going to visit Saudi Arabia to convene the first advisory meeting sometime early this year. So, our commitment and determined will to fight against terrorism will be further strengthened and will continue.”
Restating that Africa will continue to be one of his major priorities in his second term, he lamented that the crisis in Darfur and Sudan were still continuing.
He said: “As you may remember, from day one, I said Darfur and Sudan will be one of my top priorities. And we have been working very hard. Unfortunately, the crisis is still continuing.”
On the two Sudanese nations, he said "we have not been able to see perfect peace and stability." To this end in his second term, Ban said he would continue to be fully engaged on the matter, declaring that at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, later this month, he would be "really heavily engaging" on the matter with African leaders whose support he observed was very much needed now.
According to him, the independence of South Sudan and the successful referendum conducted in January last year have not completely resolved the tense relationship between South and North Sudan, a relationship which he described as “not being smooth.”
The Secretary-General noted that both Sudan and South Sudan “have not been engaging in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the status of Abyei, and sharing the national wealth, particularly oil.”
Ban said both countries should have resolved these differences “much earlier, before the independence of South Sudan, but now that there are two independent states, they have to address these issues.”
The UN Secretary-General said former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who has been leading the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, "is playing a very important role with my special envoys and special representatives and peacekeeping operations. But at this time, we need the full support of member states,” implying that such support from other African countries and leaders would help move the situation between the two Sudanese nations forward.
Besides, he said, “South Sudan is a huge country without much infrastructure. This country is known as 20 times bigger than France. Just a simple, very challenging example is that there are only 60 kilometres of paved road in such a huge country. There are not many roads for peacekeepers to move, except by being transported by air assets, so we really need air assets.
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has asked the Federal Government to mobilise the needed forces to quell the Boko Haram terror attacks, just as he lamented that the situation in Sudan and South Sudan continues to be testy.
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at his first press conference in the year, as he begins his second term of five years in office, the UN Secretary-General affirmed his condemnation of the Boko Haram menace as a terrorist act that the global community has to come together and fight.
In response to a question on why some of the UN statements refrain from describing the Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria as a terrorist act, Ban said “I have, on many occasions, strongly condemned these terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, including that time of the attack against the UN House last year.”
But at the press conference held in New York, the UN scribe added that “the Nigerian government should also mobilise full possible forces to address these Boko Haram terrorist attacks.”
Promising that the UN on its part “will coordinate with the concerned parties, international organisations and regional organisations,” to address the problem, he disclosed that he had already made a specific proposal on Wednesday while meeting the UN General Assembly.
That proposal which will strengthen UN capacity in the area of counter-terrorism, according to him, includes the need to have “a single coordinated counter-terrorism mechanism combining the currently existing functions.”
Disclosing that this proposal had received support from several member states already he also added that “we have established a counter-terrorism centre in Saudi Arabia.”
In the light of that, the Secretary-General said, “I am going to visit Saudi Arabia to convene the first advisory meeting sometime early this year. So, our commitment and determined will to fight against terrorism will be further strengthened and will continue.”
Restating that Africa will continue to be one of his major priorities in his second term, he lamented that the crisis in Darfur and Sudan were still continuing.
He said: “As you may remember, from day one, I said Darfur and Sudan will be one of my top priorities. And we have been working very hard. Unfortunately, the crisis is still continuing.”
On the two Sudanese nations, he said "we have not been able to see perfect peace and stability." To this end in his second term, Ban said he would continue to be fully engaged on the matter, declaring that at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, later this month, he would be "really heavily engaging" on the matter with African leaders whose support he observed was very much needed now.
According to him, the independence of South Sudan and the successful referendum conducted in January last year have not completely resolved the tense relationship between South and North Sudan, a relationship which he described as “not being smooth.”
The Secretary-General noted that both Sudan and South Sudan “have not been engaging in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the status of Abyei, and sharing the national wealth, particularly oil.”
Ban said both countries should have resolved these differences “much earlier, before the independence of South Sudan, but now that there are two independent states, they have to address these issues.”
The UN Secretary-General said former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who has been leading the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, "is playing a very important role with my special envoys and special representatives and peacekeeping operations. But at this time, we need the full support of member states,” implying that such support from other African countries and leaders would help move the situation between the two Sudanese nations forward.
Besides, he said, “South Sudan is a huge country without much infrastructure. This country is known as 20 times bigger than France. Just a simple, very challenging example is that there are only 60 kilometres of paved road in such a huge country. There are not many roads for peacekeepers to move, except by being transported by air assets, so we really need air assets.
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