The House of Representatives has urged the federal ministry of foreign affairs to fully embrace and adopt the report of ‘silencing the guns’ project which aimed at silencing all illegal weapons in Africa, and ensure relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) key into the roadmap.
The House also urged the office of the National Security Adviser to fully adopt the report and cascade it down to other relevant security agencies.
The project aims to promote prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa, by targeting ways to silence all illegal weapons in the continent, and in December, 2020 the African Union decided to extend the initiative until 2030.
The House’s resolutions followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Ahmed Munir (APC, Kaduna) at the plenary Tuesday.
Moving the motion, Munir said “silencing the guns 2030” is a flagship roadmap project adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016 by the African Union with the aim of realising a Conflict-Free Africa by the year 2030.
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He also said the concept of silencing the guns is borne out of the observation that the African Continent is the scene of numerous violent conflicts that make the desired economic and political integration of the continent difficult.
“As part of the AU’s Agenda 2063, the AU sought to ensure that Africa is characterized by peace, political tolerance and good governance.
“Concerned that initially, the roadmap was to be achieved by 2020 of which the Continent fell short and the goal was further extended to 2030.
“Cognizant that peace and security matters across Africa are interwoven and the Continent cannot afford to further miss the 2030 set target,” the lawmaker stated.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its committees on national security and intelligence and foreign affairs to ensure compliance.
