Buhari Charges African Colleagues During AU Meeting

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari delivered a powerful speech on June 14, Sunday, during the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting held in the course of the AU summit in South Africa.

According to The Punch, Buhari urged his African colleagues to place interests of their countries above personal ambitions.

“The people of these countries are suffering while their political leaders are bickering among themselves.

“I believe that is incumbent upon us as leaders to always place the interest of our countries above narrow and personal interests.

“It is therefore my expectation that at the end of this summit, the PSC will come out with a united message to call on all parties to act in the interest of their people and the entire continent.

He added that African leaders should do everything possible to “give hope to the hopeless”.

“The time to do so is now as we look forward on the march toward 2063 to deliver a continent that is at peace with itself, prosperous, a global partner and a democratic show case.”

Recalling the recent conflicts in Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan and Burundi, Buhari lamented:

“As you are aware in 2013 during our 50th anniversary celebration of our union, we as African leaders committed ourselves to the objective of silencing the local guns in Africa by 2020. With just five years remaining, the prospect of realising this objective looks doubtful.”