The World Must Act Fast To Stop New Phase Of Global Terrorism- Jonathan

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said Wednesday in New York
that the world must act immediately to stop the troubling new phenomenon of
terrorists and foreign fighters attacking and trying to hold parts of sovereign
nations.

Addressing the United Nations Security Council High-Level
Meeting on the Threat of Terrorism to Global Peace and Security, President
Jonathan said that the international community must also do more to support
countries like Nigeria which are in the frontline of the war against terrorism.

“There is no doubt that foreign fighters have added a
troubling dimension to this emerging phase of terrorism. From targeted attacks
by Al Qaeda a few years ago, we now have mobile bands of thousands of
terrorists sweeping across vast areas, destroying lives, and even attempting to
hold territory. This is unacceptable; we must act now.

“We must capitalize on the commitment and evident
determination of the Security Council to seek more innovative responses to the
threat of terrorism and in particular to the growing menace of foreign
fighters.

“The Council should be concerned about the existence of
sources of arming and funding terrorists. Evidence has shown that Boko Haram,
for instance, is resourced largely from outside our country.

“We must also commit to ensuring that countries which
are in the frontline of this challenge, receive adequate support from the
international community.

“Only by united action and firm resolve can we check
this raging threat to humanity, and also build the enduring structures that
will resist their re-emergence,” President Jonathan said.

The President told the Security Council that his
Administration  continues to confront the
menace of terrorism with unrelenting determination and that the Federal
Government has also evolved initiatives to alleviate the plight of people in
affected communities.

“Nigeria knows too well the destructive effects of
terrorist activities. Over the past five years, we have been, and are still
confronting threats posed by Boko Haram to peace and stability predominantly in
the North Eastern part of our country.

“The costs are high: over 13,000 people have been
killed, whole communities razed, and hundreds of persons kidnapped, the most
prominent being our innocent daughters from Chibok Secondary School, in North
East Nigeria.

“As daunting as the challenge may be, we have faced it
with unrelenting determination, mobilising all the resources at our disposal to
ensure that the scourge of terrorism is rooted out of our nation. In addition
to our counterterrorism efforts, we have evolved initiatives to alleviate the
plight of the population in the affected communities.

“These include a holistic effort through the
Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) which is aimed at providing
immediate relief and fast tracking the infrastructural re-development of the
region.  It also has as a core goal, an
integrated effort at achieving the de-radicalisation of potential terrorist
recruits.

“We have also launched a Victims Support Fund which has
already raised about 500 million dollars of the expected minimum of one billion
dollars in direct support of the victims of acts of terrorism. This is in
addition to the Safe Schools Initiative championed by Mr. Gordon Brown, former
British Prime Minister and currently the UN Special Envoy for Global Education
which is being rigorously supported by Nigeria’s Federal Government,” he
said.