The assistance of
United Nations and the international community will be invaluable in reversing
the devastation visited on Nigeria by the Boko Haram insurgency, President Buhari today told the visiting President of
the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Ms Maria
Fernanda Espinosa Garces.
"The condition of
internally displaced persons ((IDPs) in the country is pathetic. We have at
least a million children who neither know their parents, nor where they come
from," the President told Ms Garces during an audience at State House,
Abuja.
He added that damage to
infrastructure, particularly in the North-east, has been horrendous:
"Bridges have been blown up, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, and
other buildings have been destroyed. All these will be rehabilitated, and every
form of international help is welcome."
On the recharge of Lake
Chad through inter-basin water transfer from Congo River, President Buhari said
climate change was quite real to the region, noting that no fewer than 30
million people are negatively affected by the shrinking lake, with at least
half of them being Nigerians.
He stressed the role
the international community needed to play in the endeavour, since recharging
the lake was beyond the financial power of the affected countries. The UNGA
President commended Nigeria for being a key part of the United Nations system, saying
the country was well respected in the global body.
"Nigeria is a
major troops’ contributor to peace keeping operations, and a major part of the
human rights architecture," Ms Garces said.
She commended President
Buhari's leadership of ECOWAS, and of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, pledging
to call the attention of the international community to the "hurting
effects" of the Lake Chad problem, and other issues raised by the Nigerian
leader.
The UNGA President also
lauded Nigeria for rehabilitating the UN building in Abuja, which was destroyed
by Boko Haram insurgents during an attack in August, 2011
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