President Muhammadu Buhari has called for global collaboration against threats to common existence of the world.
Buhari, on Thursday, explained that threats were the common challenges such as terrorism, corruption, poverty and climate change.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President spoke while receiving letters of credence from some envoys at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The statement was titled “Let’s collectively tackle rising threats to our common existence, President Buhari urges envoys.”
Buhari also received letters of credence from High Commissioner of Gambia, Mr Mohamadou Njie; Ambassador of South Korea, Mr Kim Young-Chae; Ambassador of Slovak, Mr Tomas Felix; High Commissioner of Australia, Mr John Donnelly; High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Mr Masudur Rahman; and Ambassador of Guinea Bissau, Dr Jaao Butiam Co.
He was quoted as saying that “I would like to lay emphasis on the need for us to come together to address and overcome our common challenges.
“Terrorism, insurgency, displacement of persons, climate change, population explosion, human trafficking, corruption, poverty, and proliferation of small arms and light weapons are all either the sources of conflict or results of it.
“These challenges, though on a diverse scale, threaten the existence of humanity and human relations.
“These challenges underscore the need for the international community to work together to collectively identify appropriate measures to globally overcome these challenges.”
The President added that the novel coronavirus pandemic remains humanity’s greatest threat as it does not only affect public health, but also has a devastating effect on people’s economy and livelihood.
“Although countries around the world have commenced the vaccine rollout against the pandemic, mitigating the spread of the virus and the impact of its infection, remains cause for concern,” he noted.
Buhari assured the new envoys that Nigeria enjoys very good bilateral relations with each of their countries, and there was need to enhance the cordial relations for the joint benefit of citizens.
“In addition to the fraternal relations between us, the one thing Nigeria has in common with your countries is peace. Peace is priceless, desirable and crucial to sustainable development and achieving the targets set by the UN global initiatives.
“It is therefore imperative for us to work individually and bilaterally for sustainable peace. Achieving global peace is vital to attaining food security. Peace and food security should be pursued simultaneously,’’ he said.
Speaking on behalf of the diplomats, High Commissioner of Gambia thanked the President for the warm reception they had received since coming into the country.
“We will not spare efforts in putting in our best to improve relations between our countries,’’ he said.
