… Says, no President can single-handedly end terrorism
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and National Coordinator, Disciples of Jagaban (DOJ), Abdulhakeem Adegoke Alawuje has said that those behind terrorism and kidnapping in Nigeria are well known personalities and political players.
In a statement on Thursday, Alawuje fingered previous political leaders as those behind insecurity in the country, adding that socio-economic hardship further increased it to unbearable height.
Though, he did not mention names, but added that desperate politicians brought terrorism in attempts to outdo one another by recruiting bandits, kidnappers and other hoodlums across the country for political gains.
However, the APC chieftain said it was high time government shared a substantive security responsibility of the nation with citizens since government alone cannot do it.
“Insecurity has been in the system for a very long time, but became more apparent at the return of democracy in 1999. It was like a cancer that spread in our system on daily basis.
“The previous political leaders created them. It is not normal but our desperate politicians brought it. As a result, every president comes and try their best and leave after eight years.
“Politicians ignorantly outdo one another in recruiting bandits, kidnappers and other hoodlums across the country for political gains. Some people even erroneously attribute this menace to religion or race. Stop attaching it to religion or ethnics, its everywhere.
“The act of killing one another and kidnapping innocent people was not part of the Nigerian psyche in the past. Desperate politicians injected it in our youth, and unbearable hardship added to it. Of course when there’s hardship, automatically crimes follow immediately.
“The so called desperate politicians had successfully destroyed the present and the future of this country from the time past. They bought guns and other armful weapons for the innocent youths, gave them hard drugs to turn their heads, financed their movement and gave them the target to kill or bring other oppositions to them in their various hidden places.
“We all see them as seasonal political tools and are being given tokens to settle with them.The ugly development started majorly from a particular part of the country and it gradually escalated to other parts in the worst situation.
“They used them during campaign and elections and dumped them until another four years of election. That is why during every election cycle, they become exceptionally relevant to the politicians. They return to the city for the contract as usual and after the elections, they return to the jungle for ransoms for another four years.
“The more the hardship, the more crimes begin to be normalized. This is a new government that set out a new approach to tackle the hardship of this nation and create more employment for the jobless Nigerians. We must give this government time to right the wrongs it inherited.
“However, the situation is extremely complex with interplay of many variables. This is to know that it has gone beyond what government alone can handle. It has become the responsibility of all to end this trouble militating against us.
“Government should employ more people to engage the citizens in some of our rural areas by giving the upcoming youth new orientations ahead of their time.
“If possible let more agencies be created in all regions to handle regional security as challenges in all regions are not the same; definitely the solution will never be the same approach.
“Those military boys involved in the operations should be respected, energised, encouraged and we should stop seeing them as useless citizens, as all of us cannot enter the forest.
“The retired security generals and some experienced police officers should be selected across the country especially those with track records to help the situation.
“If the government believe that there are Nigerians who don’t have money but base on their past experience they are valuable products that can be useful for this ugly things that is affecting the progress and development of this country, let Mr. President sit down with them and discuss what will be the permanent way out of this seemingly unending insecurity”.