Terrorism: Every weapon can be traced – Ezekwesili wants manufacturers held

Former Vice President, World Bank’s Africa Region, Dr Oby Ezekwesili has said the manufacturers of the weapons used by terrorists in Nigeria and other African countries can be traced, wondering why they have not been held accountable.

Ezekwesili stated this in Abuja on Thursday at the African Conference organised by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, SPPG.

“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 asked.

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

According to her, democracy could only thrive when the electoral system was transparent with competent leaders to tackle the social economic challenges faced in the continent.

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

“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,” she said.