Defence chief decries hostile treatment at African borders

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on Friday, called for a united front among African countries following what he described as hostilities meted out to fellow brothers seeking passage through each border across the continent.

The defence chief raised the concern at a dinner tagged ‘The King’s Banquet’ held in honour of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III and his wife, Olori Atuwatse III in Abuja.

Musa said he felt pained seeing such inhuman treatment of fellow Africans in the course of his travels across the continent.

He said, “I have had the privilege of travelling to most African countries and I bet if you appear in any of them, you will believe you are home because the feeling is just the same. We walk, talk and act alike. It is, therefore, important that we embrace ourselves. I personally feel very bad when I travel to other African borders and see how hostile we are to each other.

“It is one thing that actually pains me greatly. We must learn to appreciate one another. We do business with others, but we don’t do with ourselves. I think we need to break those barriers. I think that is what we need to break. Africans should be able to travel across counties and be received as family members. That is the only way we can grow.

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“As Africans, nobody should speak for us. We must stand strong and bold and speak for ourselves wherever we are. We refuse to be intimidated by anyone because we are Africans and the cradle of civilisation. As the Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, I am proud to stand before you and acknowledge the significant progress our continent has made in recent years.”

The lawmaker representing Delta North Senatorial District, Senator Ned Nwoko, also recommended the removal of certain barriers and the introduction of a single currency for trade among African countries as the way to go.

He said, “Africa is just one continent divided by Europeans many years ago. I am sure many of us know about the partition of Africa alongside economic interest. There are no natural resources you can find in any part of the world that we don’t have in the continent. But we have remained perpetually poor.

“The solutions to our problems must revolve around lowering the barriers at borders free for movement of people across Africa. The second solution is to develop some technologies that will enable us to manufacture and refine our products. We cannot at this stage be exporting raw materials abroad to be processed and sent to us at huge costs.

“The more contentious issue I see is the need to have a single currency that will enable us to trade among ourselves. Believe me, we don’t need dollars or Euros. We must learn to always put our people first and raise benevolent leaders.”

Earlier in her speech, former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, asked Africans to embrace peace if they hope to have any meaningful and sustainable development.

This was even as she appealed for a massive sensitisation to be carried out at the grassroots for the message of unity to spread seamlessly.

“We are here to promote a positive and inspiring narrative about Africa. This is because Africa is blessed with professionals and talented people who have great potential. This potential, therefore, needs to be harnessed to create opportunities for growth and development. We need a united front to promote Africa. The time to tell our story is now.

“The public partnership, which is key to Africa’s development, is one of the initiatives that has impacted the power, education and transportation sectors of this great country. With the continent rich in human and natural resources, the Africa We see can become a wonder to the world.

“Unfortunately for many decades, Africa has been branded as the continent of conflicts. However, we all know that without peace, there can be sustainable developments. Therefore we need to sensitise our people to embrace peace and focus on issues that unite rather than divide us. This sensitisation should begin from the grassroots,” she urged.