World leaders at the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary have emphasised the need to improve the security situation in Africa, as it is hindering development in the continent.

Some African countries are currently experiencing attacks by terrorists groups.

Some days before the conference attended by more than 28 world leaders, a terrorist group, Boko Haram, killed over 29 students in a Federal government college in Buni Yadi, Yobe State.

At the Conference of International Peace and Security held in Abuja, the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, pointed out that human security should be the major concern of leaders in order to sustain development.

“Human Security is about freedom. Freedom from want, through empowerment and equity, ensuring that all people have access to basic services so that they can find a livelihood and have a voice in determining where they live and that their concerns are addressed and their priorities respected.

“Human security is not just a moral issue for our time; it is a political imperative and the cornerstone of social stability and human development,” she said.

Defence Of African People

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemiriam Desalegn, stressed that the only way security challenges could be overcome is by improving the governance structures.

“There is no one size-fits-all ideological blueprint to get this process right, there appears to be a growing consensus that all inclusive political arrangement is an absolute imperative.

“The whole notion of introducing an all-inclusive political arrangement in any given system meant to address these historical inequalities could only make sense if this political experiment also at the same time involves putting in place policies that could ensure sustainable economic development benefiting the cross section of society irrespective of ethnicity, gender, political affiliation or class,” Desalegn said.

UK Secretary for Africa, Mark Simmonds, pointed out that any government has the right and indeed the obligation to defend its territory and people from terrorism.

“The government has a duty to be the protector of its citizens and their universal human rights. The defence of African people and a proportionate use of legal force are mutually re-enforcing.

“The UK will partner the African governments in seeking the eradication of violence, extremism and terrorism. But if we ignore the values we want our children to benefit from, we will act as a recruiter for the likes of Boko Haram and the Al-Shabaab. We must not forget what it is that we defend,” he stressed.

Mr Simmonds said that the UK would continue to work with all African countries on African issues at the United Nations Security Council.

“We are partners in the Commonwealth, which African countries have continued to join. We want to see a strong and ambitious African Union. We are opening new embassies and high commissions across Africa, building link and strengthening our understanding and we are expounding our network of trade and investment experts throughout African countries.”

A US Envoy, Ambassador Tom Shannon, told Channels Television that part of the countries bilateral dialogue revolves around transparency and efforts to address issues of corruption in both countries.

“We both have corruption issues and the extent to which we can share our experiences and how we address these issues will make us better.

“Obviously corruption can be a problem but what we are seeing here is real interest on the part of American companies and American investors and the more American investors we have here and the more Nigerians we have working in the United States the greater our common efforts in the fight against corruption.

He said that the human condition is riddled with corruption but the US government was only interested in ensuring that governments were chosen by the people.

“Corruption is part of the human condition but the good thing about democracy, especially one that is transparent, is that it gives the citizen a way of communicating with the government,” Ambassador Shannon.

He said the the US help in combating terrorism would only be successful when all acts of terrorism were done away with, assuring the Nigerian government of the US resolve to continue to work with it to bring an end to the insurgency in the north east.