Punch Newspapers Sections Published 14 January 2021 CALLS on the government to secure greater foreign assistance to crush terrorism have peaked as insurgents continue to slaughter and kidnap Nigerians and vandalise communities. A Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, adding his cerebral voice to those of security experts, governors and traumatised victims, said Nigeria’s situation had become desperate and required robust external assistance. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), must face the cold reality that no country on its own can defeat terrorism and urgently seek a massive scale up of foreign technical, financial and military support. The complexity of jihadist terrorism, especially since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has shaped a global response based on multilateral cooperation. The International Security journal said global reactions “show that neither isolationism nor unilateralism will suffice in the fight against terrorism.” The European Union member-nations base their strategy on counter-terrorism on the principle that, “International cooperation is the only way to effectively tackle a threat that cannot be dealt with on an exclusively national basis.” Countries afflicted by terrorism take this to heart and act accordingly.