Group to north-west governors: You need political will to end insecurity — NOT summits

A group known as Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) says summits and conferences on insecurity will not end the menace in the north-west geopolitical zone.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Sani Shinkafi, the group’s executive director, said governors in the north-west need the political will to exterminate banditry and other vices behind insecurity in the zone.

“The problems in the zone require political will and pragmatic actions, not empty rhetoric as obtainable in the past 12 years, which has not changed the narrative,” the statement reads.

Shinkafi said the governors should “accelerate the development of the zone through education, wealth creation, and social amenities that will impact the lives of the people”.

He urged them to “stop dissipating energy and resources in organising peace and security summits and conferences within and outside Nigeria, as they are not the solution to the insecurity confronting the zone”.

“The zone is neglected by past and present leaders. Agriculture, which is the mainstream of the region, is neglected in spite of the abundant, fruitful land mass,” Shinkafi added.

“The recent North West summit on the security of life and livelihoods was a welcome development if governors would be spurred to implement people-oriented projects and ensure the security and welfare of the people for rapid development of the zone.

“It is obvious that the UNDP and other development partners cannot solve the problem of insecurity in the region.

“The remote causes of insecurity in the zone include corruption, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, poor governance, a weak judicial system, a weak security apparatus, porous borders, drug abuse, weak traditional institutions, the influx of illegal Fulani aliens through land borders, and the proliferation of small and lighter arms and ammunition by unauthorised persons.

“It is amazing that governors in the region have been receiving monthly statutory allocations from the federal government since the inception of democratic governance in 1999, yet the region is underdeveloped. The resources are carelessly misappropriated, misapplied, and siphoned for personal enrichment.

“Illiteracy is one of the major causes of armed banditry and related crimes. Most of the bandits are uneducated both western and Islamic education.

“Leaders in the zone failed to invest in education, in building primary and secondary schools, adult education, and Almajiri schools. They left the children to roam about the streets begging; sadly, many of them were recruited into armed banditry, terrorism, and other social crimes. The existing schools are not renovated and equipped, let alone building new schools.

“Due to widespread armed banditry, cattle rustling, herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping for ransom, and displacement of innocent people from their ancestral homes, millions of small and large-scale farmers deserted their farmlands, which exacerbated the food crisis in the region in particular and the nation in general.

“The Bureau of Statistics recently released data that showed the North West geopolitical zone has the highest poverty rate in Nigeria. The activities of bandits have brought economic stagnation to the region, as people can no longer go about their legitimate business for fear of being kidnapped or killed by bandits.

“Many who were kidnapped sold their farmlands and houses to pay the ransom demanded by their captors. This further impoverished the people. Governors lack the political will to tackle the problem; instead, they divert funds for development to use to buy votes during elections and bribe electoral officers to hang on to power.

“It is obvious that corruption is the root cause of bad governance, unemployment, and banditry.

He asked the north-west governors to be proactive and create jobs for the youth to reduce unemployment and poverty.

Shinkafi also called for the overhaul of security architecture in the geopolitical zone, adding that modern crime-fighting equipment should be provided, including scanners, CCTV, surveillance drones, communication gadgets, operational vehicles, and quarters in the border areas to fight insecurity.