President Buhari Reveals What Nigeria Will Do For Libya

Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, has pledged that Nigeria will continue to support Libya’s quest to regain political and security stability.

President Buhari while speaking with the Head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez Al-Sarraj, at a bilateral meeting on the margins of the AU Summit in Niamey, Niger Republic, “We will do our best to help Libya stabilise”.

The President, who discussed recent developments in the North African country as well as bilateral issues between Nigeria and Libya with Mr Al-Sarraj, noted that there were over 6000 Nigerians in Libya, who see Libya as a gateway to Europe.

President Buhari stated that the humanitarian crisis arising from insurgency and the drying up of Lake Chad, which has affected over 30 million people in the region who depend on the Lake for farming, fishing and animal husbandry have forced some Nigerians to defy the desert to make perilous journeys across the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert to Europe.

Buhari while speaking with UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, called on the international community to help in recharging the Lake, he noted that the financial cost was beyond the affected countries.

The President decried the menace of terrorism in the Sahel countries, noting that the instability in Libya has been a negative force on the Sahel.

The Head of Libya’s GNA pointed to the killings in the country, he promised that his government will put an end to the situation.

“The aggression must stop. The solution is not military alone we also believe in diplomacy. We are also victims of terrorism, just like Nigeria”.

Al-Sarraj revealed that Libya contributed to the establishment and survival of the AU, adding that it was now time for Africa to reciprocate.

On her part, the Deputy Secretary-General told the President that the growing security challenges in Africa were adversely affecting development and undermining the attainment of Sustaining Development Goals (SDGs).

She said the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres will host the SDGs Summit during the high-level week of the 74th Session of the General Assembly in September and will use the occasion to call for a road map for a decade of delivery of the sustainable development targets.

The Deputy Secretary-General also congratulated President Buhari for signing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement at the AU Summit in Niamey, saying “the entire world was waiting for Nigeria”