Buhari seeks peace in Guinea Bissau

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday appealed to political leaders in Guinea Bissau to embrace unity and avoid any act that could plunge the nation into further crisis. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while receiving the Special Representative of the United Nations’ Secretary-General on Guinea Bissau, Mr. Modibo Toure, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari was said to have decried the lingering political crisis in the West African country. “They must accept responsibility for leadership to stabilise their own country,” the President warned. He added that the country’s political leaders, not outsiders that can effectively resolve thepolitical crisis in the country. Buhari told the visiting envoy that Nigeria would welcome increased support from ECOWAS and the UN to stabilise the country and prevent breakdown of law and order. He said Nigeria had a responsibility to the region and the rest of Africa and assured that “we will not shirk on our responsibility, in spite of the hardship confronting us”. The UN representative had requested Nigeria to use its clout in the regional bloc, ECOWAS, to break the deadlock in the country. He warned that Guinea Bissau faced a very grim future if the country continued without a functioning government.