Conference seeks solutions to region’s terrorism and extremism

With terrorism and extremist organisations rife in Central Africa, an international conference took place to discuss and find solutions to the problems of security. The three-day conference was held at the Protestant University of Central Africa (UPAC) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, reported the Cameroon Tribune.

Opening the conference on “Extremism, Wars, Peace and Development in Africa since Independence”, Professor Bouba Mbima, the university’s rector, said: “Central Africa, especially the CEMAC [the French acronym for the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa] zone, has for some years endured attacks from terrorist groups which plunder the margins of the states. Terrorist organisations such as Boko Haram, armed groups, bands of criminals and cybercriminals are the main operators who violate the states’ stability as well as prospects for national development.”

Mbima said to achieve conference objectives it was necessary to “review traditional approaches to conflict resolution in Africa, in order to apply them to current crises”, reported the Cameroon Tribune.

It was further reported that the conference heard it was necessary to chart and classify extremism in Africa since their independence, and give strategic guidance to the authorities to limit existing extremism and prevent the proliferation of new extremist groups; and to efficiently use the various resources available for the continent’s sustainable development.

Professor Daniel Abwa, the president of the conference organising committee and dean of UPAC’s faculty of social sciences and international relations, said: “These conflicts that we experience in Africa are not part of the African way of thinking. We are in ethnic and tribal wars which are the consequences of colonial practices, which for a long time emphasised the principle of divide and rule. Today we must change the paradigm, teach those elements that unite Africans and so allow Africa to become powerful. Because everywhere in the world, it is the unity of different ethnic groups that gives them strength.” — Compiled by Jane Marshall.

This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.