TODAY IN HISTORY: Presidents Of 5 African Nations Agree to Fight Boko Haram – Mandela Awarded Degree
Presidents Of 5 African Nations Agree to Fight Boko Haram
On May 17, 2014, at a summit in Paris, African leaders from Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, and Benin forged a regional counteraction plan against Boko Haram, the Islamist group notorious for kidnapping over 200 girls and threatening to enslave them. This rare cohesion included promises for joint border surveillance and intelligence sharing to locate the abducted girls.
Nigeria’s President at that time, Goodluck Jonathan, labeled Boko Haram as a “terrorist organization” and an arm of “al-Qaida operation”. Jonathan was criticized for his country’s inability to secure its people, especially the kidnapped girls, and for his tardy response to the abductions.
The summit, facilitated by France under former President François Hollande, brought regional Presidents together to strategize a unified response against Boko Haram. Alice Friend, the US Department of Defence’s African Affairs Director, had previously expressed doubts about the Nigerian army’s capability to tackle Boko Haram independently, citing their lack of necessary capabilities, training, and equipment.
Notably, Cameroon’s participation was a critical factor in the summit’s success, considering its strained relationship with Nigeria over a territorial dispute. Delegates from the US, UK, and EU were also present. The participating countries committed to bolstering security in Boko Haram-targeted zones, performing bilateral patrols, and exchanging operational intelligence to rescue the kidnapped girls and others abducted by the terrorist group.
However, years after that agreement, not much changed as Boko Haram continued its attacks, killings, and kidnapping of civilians in Nigeria and some neighbouring countries.
Mandela Awarded Degree
On this day in 1989, Nelson Mandela, during the final stages of his imprisonment, earned an LLB degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA). His graduation took place in absentia at a ceremony held in Cape Town. Additionally, in 1995, UNISA bestowed upon Mandela an Honorary Doctorate in Law.
Before enrolling at UNISA, Mandela initially pursued an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. Acknowledging his own academic struggles, he discontinued his studies at the university in 1952 without obtaining a degree. After his imprisonment in 1962, Mandela resumed his studies at the University of London, though he did not finish that degree either. But Mandela earned his first degree, a BA, from UNISA earlier in 1942.
