The Federal Government has said it has so far committed about $34million (about N7billion) to the deployment of troops and logistics support to the Malian Crisis.
President Goodluck Jonathan made this disclosure at the Donors’ Conference organized at the end of the 20th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday.
The President also stated that an additional $5million has been pledged for further assistance and 900 combat soldiers and 300 Air Force personnel are already on ground in Mali as part of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA).
According to President Jonathan, Nigeria’s commitment was an expression of Nigeria’s desire to restore normalcy in Mali, noting that the country has undertaken the re-construction and refurbishment of a number of medical clinics in the military barracks of some of the Malian Defence and Security Forces, as part of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) intervention to the tune of US$5.5 million.
