Nyusi calls for efforts to prevent terrorists recruiting young people

Maputo, 22 Mar (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has called for multi-sector efforts to prevent young people from being recruited by Islamist terrorists who have been causing havoc in parts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

According to the President, who was visiting on Thursday a Secondary School named after him, in Matola-Rio municipality, just outside Maputo, in order to prevent such recruitment, the promotion of a patriotic culture among young people and adolescents is crucial.

“Patriotism will build ideal individuals for Mozambican society”, he claimed. “The first country is Mozambique, the second country is Mozambique, the third country is Mozambique. For us it’s just Mozambique, Mozambique and Mozambique”.

He advised the students to promote values such as solidarity with one another, and to embark on a spirit of brotherhood.

“Study hard and avoid repeating classes at all costs, because if you do you will be taking the place of another young person who would like to enter this school next year”, Nyusi said.

“No thieves or people who have been tricked into joining the terrorists should emerge from this school”, said Nyusi, who also urged the students to stay well away from alcohol and drugs.

Education, he declared, “is fundamental and the flow of negative information has been increasing in the country”, which is why “we selected one of the largest schools in Mozambique to share these ideals with the students.”

“I chose this school because it is one of the largest with approximately six thousand pupils, and also because since its inauguration I have been committed to returning. So I chose to talk to these children above all about patriotism which is what they need most, so that they study more and distance themselves from child marriage”, he told reporters, on the sidelines of the visit.

(AIM)

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