President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the pledge by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to help Nigeria tackle the Boko Haram insurgency through sound education among others.

He expressed the appreciation during a bilateral meeting Thursday, with OIC Secretary-General, Dr Youssef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, on the margins of the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York.

The President also underscored the importance of education in purging the mind of wrong indoctrination, particularly on religion.

He noted that the problem in Nigeria was aggravated by climate change and population explosion, emphasizing for the umpteenth time the need for the recharge of Lake Chad through inter-basin water transfer, “to take care of about 45 million people who depend on the lake for agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, and many others.”

The OIC scribe had told the Nigerian President that his organisation had passed a resolution committing member states to support Nigeria in combating extremism.

He said that the body was ready to use its facilities and institutions to correct the wrong narrative that the Boko Haram insurgency was about Islam.

Dr Al-Othaimeen, who noted that development was essential to addressing extremism, also pledged assistance for Nigeria in that respect.

•Sourced from a Tribune report