Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has invited the Foreign Affairs Minister, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to appear before the House to give an account of the status of Sudan evacuation efforts.
In his statement on Tuesday over the Sudan crisis and the evacuation of trapped Nigerians from the country, the Speaker said the House is aware of ongoing difficulties with the evacuation efforts and the federal government’s response to the developments in the Republic of Sudan.
According to him, “Over the last few weeks, the Republic of Sudan has descended into war. Unfortunately, this rapid descent into the carnage of violent conflict has entrapped many Nigerians resident in that country.
“Efforts are underway to ensure that our citizens resident in the Republic of Sudan, as students, business people and in other vocations, are evacuated quickly and safely” Gbajabiamila added.
The Speaker noted that the House are also mindful of some of these difficulties which flow from interagency disagreements arising to overlapping mandates and absence of established operational guidelines for such circumstances.
“While our priority is to ensure the welfare and well-being of our fellow citizens caught in this war, we must further revisit the statutory and other frameworks that have left us seemingly unprepared to respond promptly and effectively”, he said.
He stressed that Sudan conflict should remind Nigerians once more of the fragility of nations. “In pursuing our political objectives, we must never lose sight of the fundamental truth that in war, everybody loses; in peace, everybody can win.
“All our personal, partisan and sectional interests must always succumb to the overarching and overriding interest of ensuring the unity and stability of Nigeria. If we fail in this regard, nothing else will matter, and none of us will be absolved in the judgment of history”, the speaker said.
