President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration will address the root causes of violent extremism and hate in the country. He spoke Tuesday at the launch of Nigeria’s Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism at the Presidential Villa Abuja. While expressing the determination and commitment of his government to tackle violent extremism, Buhari recalled that Nigeria was before now, a free, peaceful and enterprising nation. Buhari called on state and local governments to develop action plans for preventing and countering violent extremism at the grassroots.
He said he had directed all ministries, departments and agencies to institutionalise mainstream measures to address the root causes of violent extremism while implementing programmes that build the resilience of Nigerians to recover from the consequences of violence. He said “I have directed that all ministries, departments and agencies to institutionalise mainstream measures to address the root causes of violent extremism while implementing programmes that build the resilience of Nigerians to recover from the consequences of violence. We must now while working together focus in rooting out hate, misrepresentation of religion and violence in our society. I also call on States and Local Governments to develop action plans for preventing and countering violent extremism at the grassroots.”
In his remarks, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Mongonu, retd, said Nigeria was one of the few countries in the world that had developed the policy framework which the country had showcased on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He recalled that in 2015, President Buhari directed the review of Nigeria’s countering violent extremism programme. According to him, the review showed the need for a complementary soft approach to the kinetic effort in dealing with terrorism based on principles of whole of government and whole of the society approach.
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