By: Murtala Issah
Security expert, Adib Saani says the one hundred million dollars support announced by the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris to support five sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana to fight violent extremism will not yield the desired results unless the African Union draws up a strategic plan to deal with the threat.
In a telephone interview with GBC News, Mr. Adib Saani stressed that, though finance is critical in the war on terrorism, it amounts to naught without a clear strategy to deal with the threat.
He revealed that, the African Union has two hundred million dollars meant for tackling the threat of violent extremism on the continent, however, the fund remains unused because the continent lacks a clear plan to deal with the menace.
Violent extremist organizations including Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. These extremist groups have attacked Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin and now control more than half of the land area of Burkina Faso. Though Ghana has so far not suffered an attack from a terrorist group, security experts, including Adib Saani, believe, the ultimate goal of violent extremist groups in the Sahel is to reach the Gulf of Guinea and therefore have Ghana within their sight.
Ghana and her development partners have been collaborating to address threat of violent extremism for nearly a decade now.
The US government has over the years, trained Ghanaian military personnel and provided other technical support.
The latest being the one hundred million dollars support announced by US Vice President Kamala Harris during a visit to Ghana a week ago.
The countries benefitting from the support are, Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Togo, which are all situated along the Gulf of Guinea.
Mr. Adib Saani, who is also the CEO of Jakittey Security, called for greater collaboration between sub-Saharan African countries and their development partners to contain the threat of violent extremism.
“We need to focus very much on human security, opportunities for people to access basic necessities of life, like water, food, sanitation, health care, jobs for young people, respect for the right of the people. Let’s curb marginalisation, let’s address climate change, the rural urban drift, the issue of Fulani herdsmen, so you see, it’s a plethora of issues that require a lot more resources before we will be able to in a sustainable manner, address it (violent extremism),” Mr. Saani stressed.
Mr. Adib Saani believes that, considering the enormity of the issue, the US support alone, is not enough.
“The AU has about two hundred million dollars in its account meant for security that is unused because they don’t have a strategy. So even if you are given a billion dollars, it will amount to nothing. Therefore what we need is a strategy, and with that strategy in mind, I think a hundred million dollars is woefully inadequate, however it is a step in the right direction, ” he explained.
