Group Pushes For Stronger US Ties To Enhance Stability

A civil society group, the Hope Alive Initiative (HAI), has appealed to President Donald Trump and the US government to pursue collaboration with Nigeria to enhance regional stability, strengthen counter-terrorism efforts and ensure the safety and security of all Nigerians.

The group, in a statement by its director of media and communications, Ernest Omoarelojie, said the threat of military intervention significantly undermines the country’s security and diplomatic efforts to address its complex security issues effectively.

HAI, a pro-good-governance and development advocacy group based in Nigeria acknowledged that activities of extremist groups had resulted in the tragic loss of lives, but noted that the outcome was better classified as a manifestation of a complex and multi-dimensional crisis that affects every Nigerian irrespective of faith.

“While we acknowledge with profound sorrow the murderous killings by extremist groups and the tragic loss of innocent lives, we must categorically state that the victims cut across all religious and ethnic divides. This is not a one-dimensional religious conflict but a complex, multidimensional security crisis affecting Christians, Muslims, and adherents of all faiths alike,” the group said.

The group urged President Donald Trump and the US government to pursue a collaborative posture in line with its stance on the abuse of human rights across the world, adding that the well-informed stance was better achieved through collaboration to enhance regional stability and strengthen the war on terrorism.

Highlighting Nigeria’s strategic importance as Africa’s most populous nation that has always lived up to its enormous responsibilities in terms of sacrifices made over the years, which include being in the forefront in the continent’s decolonisation efforts and peace keeping operations across the world, the group pleaded that the country needs the understanding and cooperation of the global community in its determination to sort out its challenging security issues.

It added that the country’s demonstrable efforts, including enhanced intelligence and inter-agency collaboration, community based security initiatives that prioritise early warnings and local resilience, implementation of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and expansion of the Interfaith Dialogue Platform, while at the same time upping the ante on its kinetic approach, are enough for it be treated with the respect that it rightly deserves among the committee of nations.