Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
As many Nigerians are rattled with the designation of the country as Country Of Particular Concern by the United States President, Donald Trump, the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has said that Nigeria needs help from them and others to solve the terrorism challenges facing the country.
He appealed for renewed diplomatic engagement between Nigeria and the United States of America over the recent security situation in the country.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, over the recent threat of security and diplomatic actions against Nigeria by President Donald Trump, Governor Adeleke threw his support behind diplomatic solutions within the context of decades of productive and rewarding Nigeria-American diplomatic partnership.
“I appeal to the Presidency of the United States of America to support Nigeria to fully implement the recently developed national security strategy.
“The new strategy is comprehensive and capable of taking on the monster of banditry and terroristic killings in many parts of the country,” Adeleke added.
The governor who commiserated with families of victims across the northern region, said the American intervention was a wakeup call to rigorously implement new security measures and forceful counter-terrorism actions, in partnership with diplomatic allies, adding: “we need help from the United States and others to solve the terrorism challenge.
“Nigeria suffers from unfortunate killings across Northern Nigeria, which has claimed lives of many innocent citizens. We believe a high-powered engagement at the presidential level will particularly open to the American government the ongoing security operations, successes and challenges Nigeria is facing in the fight against terrorism.
“We need our international partners to expand their support for the Nigerian security agencies and its political leadership to face national security challenges.
“Peaceful interface between Abuja and Washington holds the key rather than military intervention by the American government,” Adeleke said.
Governor Adeleke who drums support of the political class for the Nigerian government over the ongoing face off, further commended the Presidency for its diplomatic moves to douse the tension and address genuine concerns of western partners, especially the United States of America.
“This is the time to unite as a nation to support the national leadership to frontally address internal and external threats for the protection of the citizenry. This is the time to back the President to enforce the letters and spirit of the constitution in all facets of national life. We need peace, not war to deepen our democracy and protect our citizens,” Adeleke said.