From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has stated that those blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for the rising incidence of insecurity in the country are getting it wrong, adding that he inherited a rotten security system.
The governor, while speaking at a national security summit organised by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Abuja, yesterday, told Nigerians not to blame the political elite for the current state of insecurity in the country.
The summit, among other things, was part of the means to engage stakeholders on the alarming security challenges being witnessed across the country.
His words: “To overcome all these issues, we must get both education and security right because Mr President inherited a decayed security architecture.
“There are responsibilities that lie on our shoulders. Who are the managers of these security agencies? The management of these securities is the politicians, the political class, not the service chiefs nor the president.”
To overcome the current issues bedevilling the country, the governor stressed that Nigerians need to vote for those who have good track records. “We can get insecurity and education right. Whoever is going to be president in 2023, we must go into records before we choose and vote,” he said.
Alluding to the success story in Kogi, where according to him insecurity is a thing of the past, Bello said every citizen in the state is so informed and knows exactly who are the criminals among them.
“Those helping us are not security men made from heaven, but the same army, navy, or police. We didn’t hire anyone outside the state because the citizens are up and willing to defend themselves.”
The chairman of the occasion, the governor of Ekiti, Dr Kayode Fayemi, represented by the Special Adviser on Federal Matters, Hon. Makinde Araoye, urged governments at various levels to ensure young people are engaged in intelligence gathering.