Terrorism: Why Are We Not Holding Those Manufacturing Weapons? – Ezekwesili Raises Questions

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has questioned why manufacturers of the weapons used by terrorists in Nigeria and other African countries cannot be held accountable.

CityNews Nigeria reports that the former Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa Region, stated this in Abuja on Thursday at the African Conference organized by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, SPPG.

Ezekwesili noted that weapons used by terrorists across the continent are not magically made, stressing that every weapon can be traced.

She said, “When we talk about violent extremism and terrorism across the continent, one thing that always baffles me is where the weapons are coming from, they are not made magically, every weapon on this planet can be traced.

“So beyond where we say that we have dealt with certain extremists or we’ve taken captive extreme groups, why are we not holding those manufacturing the weapons to account?” 

She also called for more policies and programmes to strengthen democracy in the continent.

According to her, democracy could only thrive when the electoral system was transparent and competent leaders were present to tackle the social and economic challenges faced on the continent.

Ezekwesili stressed that the SPPS programme was to groom young leaders from 20 African countries with the right mindset to improve the standard of governance.

She added, “What we are doing is correcting not just the supply side by having a school that raises a new generation of politicians that will govern for the collective good of the society and not for their personal interest.

“We are in fact also focused on the political literacy that is given to the demand side so that they understand their influence to determine the quality of governance.”