On Thursday, 12th October 2023, I delivered an address on "Democracy and Security in West Africa, at an event organised in my honour by the United States Institute of Peace, in Washington D.C., United States of America. I intimated, in my address, that one of the greatest threats to our democracy has to be the proliferation and sophistication of terrorist networks in Africa. They should not only be a source of great concern to the continent of Africa, but they should also be of concern to the rest of the world. Even more concerning is the fact that these terrorist groups are evolving by the day, as they scramble to control more territories and natural resources, especially in peripheral communities where the lack of effective State presence and control creates conditions for penetration and, ultimately, radicalisation. The fight against terrorism has to be a global fight. We must pull our resources together to confront a common enemy. The resources dedicated to counter terrorism have to match the resources available to the terrorist groups. The menace caused by terrorism is such that we must share the burden of the fight to be able to incapacitate the terrorists. Our failure to do so leaves the entire world in danger of a spillover effect of terrorism and violent extremism. This is the time for a global coalition of democracies, a coalition of the willing, determined to banish the spectre of terrorism and violent extremism.