The Nation
By
Saturday, August 13, 2011
 President Goodluck Jonathan |
He has therefore pledged that Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would make appropriate responses at the forthcoming pledging conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 25, 2011.
President Jonathan spoke yesterday when he received former Ghanaian President, Jerry John Rawlings, and African Union High Representative for Somalia.
The UN said about 3.6 million people were at risk of starvation in Somalia.
More than 11 million people across the Horn of Africa have been affected by drought this year; the region’s worst in 60 years.
The famine in some parts of southern Somalia has spread to three new areas of the country, with the entire south likely to be declared a famine zone, according to the United Nations.
Acute malnutrition and death rates surpassed famine thresholds in the Balcad and Cadale districts of Middle Shabelle, and among the refugee populations in Mogadishu and the Afgoye corridor, said a statement from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Somalia food security unit.
Somalia is the only black African country that has only one language and one religion (Islam).
Jonathan, according to a statement from the office of the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, said the “famine in the Horn of Africa is worrisome, and African leaders must take action to help this unfortunate situation,” adding that ECOWAS would discuss the matter during its next meetings of the Ministerial Council and of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government, next month.
President Jonathan agreed with former President Rawlings that African leaders must show a commitment to helping the people of Somalia at this most critical time.
Earlier, the former Ghanaian leader had said the Somalia situation was a catastrophe that had to be remedied through concerted action by African leaders and corporate organisations.
He stated that the Chairman of the African Union, President Obiang Nguema Mbassogo of Equatorial Guinea expected political and corporate leaders on the continent to show a commitment to seeking a solution to this problem.
“I cannot be calling on the international community without showing that African leaders are also trying to assist their own brothers. That is what brought me here. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that we are capable of helping ourselves in Africa,” he said.
The AU High Representative said August 15, 2011 would be declared Somalia Day, while a Pledging Conference on Somalia was being planned for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on August 25, 2011.
Rawlings, who later spoke to newsmen on the Somali humanitarian situation, said it had become a test ground for the continent. He added that the image of the continent was at stake and the entire African countries must rise up to the challenge.
The AU special envoy further noted that the appeal was imperative, judging from the current inhuman predicaments faced by the citizens of that country.