Nigeria in trouble, says Southern govs

Obinwannem News Nigeria in trouble, says Southern govs

• Security architecture cannot tackle insecurity

Sequel to the prevailing and the daily increase of the insecurity situations rampaging the country, the South-West and South-South governors has declared that the present security architecture in the country was no longer credible enough, to tackle security challenges.

However, the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, had said on Tuesday, the federal government was already tinkering with the nation’s security architecture.

Governor Akeredolu, who spoke during a virtual panel discussion on the ENDSARS protest that occurred last year, said having a single command in Abuja to oversee the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, will not effectively tackle insecurity.

Akeredolu said: “There has been no consistent policy conceived to address this issues that has festered for a while. The ENDSARS crisis was one of the numerous crisis faced within Nigeria.

“We can’t continue to have a single command in Abuja to oversee millions of people in the 36 states and Abuja, the FCT, in a multi ethnic society like Nigeria, it won’t solve our problem. Yes, SARS went out totally out of their place. The power they were exercising was not what they were set up to do. They were supposed to move against armed robbers and not harras innocent people on the road”.

He noted the ineffectiveness of policing was because of its coordination from a single centre in Abuja; adding that ways to curb insecurity was for everyone, including the security agents, to obey the rule of law, and the fundamental human rights.

Supporting these claims, the chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, stated; “It is obvious that Nigeria is in troubled times. Even the governor of Benue State, Dr Samuel Ortom was there on Tuesday, and he said we should not be ashamed to asking for foreign help, it is that bad now.”

Okowa who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, added, “Ortom even said Nigeria is failing, and that it is everywhere. The way it is now, the security architecture in the country cannot solve anything.

“Even Boko Haram alone is overwhelming the military, and other security agencies and added to this is the problem posed by banditry, herdsmen, with IPOB, and all of that. It is obvious that the security architecture, the way it is cannot just survive in tackling the issue of insecurity.

“We actually need a rejig of the security architecture like the calls are beginning to be ripe on. Just yesterday (Tuesday), the National Assembly asked the presidency to declare a state of emergency in the country, that shows how bad it is.

He, however, proffered solutions to salvaging the situation, which he said was to “rejig the security architecture, or declare a state of emergency, or ask for foreign aid, to prevent the nation from sinking”.

Okowa urged the federal government to own up to the challenge and employ necessary strategies to tackling insecurity.

Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News

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