Eminent Nigerians including Vice President Kashim Shettima and ex-Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon have spoken about the urgent need for the country to put an end to its lingering security challenge.
Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mariam Aloma Mukhtar and ex-Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu spoke in similar manner.
While Vice President Shettima assured that the President Bola Tinubu administration was determined to end insecurity, others noted that it would be difficult to attain development in the absence of peace.
Shettima, Gowon, Mukhtar and Shittu spoke in Abuja on Friday at the launch of two books written by former Nigerian Ambassador to the Russia, Professor Abdullahi Y. Shehu.
The books are titled: “Boko Haram and other security challenges in Nigeria: Issues and options for policy” and “Reflections on the 2023 general elections: Lessons learned and the future of democracy in Nigeria.”
The Vice President, who was represented by his Special Adviser on General Duties, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar urged all to support Federal Government’s efforts to address the challenge of insecurity.
While hailing the author, Shettima noted the books prove ready resources for a better understanding of the causes of insecurity in the country and how to address it.
He urged scholars, like the author, to provide credible data on insecurity and related challenges to aid government’s policies and measures.
Shettima said: “For far too long, Nigeria has been under the threat of terrorist organizations like Boko Haram, who seek to erase existence through violence.
“We are also at the mercy of historical revisionists whose hidden agenda is to distort our national narrative. These daunting realities serve as the inspiration behind the books we gather to present today.
“His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has made security a top priority, and so the empirical research provided by scholars like Professor Shehu is essential.
“They serve as indispensable resources for informing policy reforms and driving national development.
“We understand that it is through such intellectual inquiry and data-driven analysis that we can chart a course towards a more secure and prosperous Nigeria,” Shettima said.
Gowon noted: “Boko Haram has been a threat, perhaps the major threat to the peace and development of Nigeria after the civil war.
“Boko Haram has indeed created a serious problem. After the civil war, l remember saying, I hope that we will not experience what we went through during that period again. Unfortunately, Boko Haram appeared.”
Gowon noted that the book on Boko Haram provides a clearer understanding of the problem and how to address it.
He added: “Understanding the debilitating impact and the deleterious effect of the insurgency on Nigeria is critical to developing innovative solutions to the problem.
“This also apply to the other security challenges that continue to undermine the stability and progress of Nigeria including recent incidences of banditry, kidnapping, farmers/herders problem and other violent conflicts as well as other forms of being experienced in Nigeria today.”
The ex-Head of State said the second book, on the last general elections, outlines crucial lessons to be learnt for strengthening democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
He was optimistic that recommendations in the book will aid those in authority in framing appropriate reforms and improving the electoral system and other forms of restructuring required in the country.
Justice Mukhtar observed that women and children are most affected in conflict, noting that the experience of Boko Haram was evident in this regard.
Represented by Justice Yargata Nimpar of the Court of Appeal, the ex-CJN said: “The security of any nation is the bedrock for peace, stability and development.
“Democracy flourishes where there is peace, justice and rule of law.”
Shittu argued that the insecurity problem, which exists in the forms of insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, among others , is a creation of the Nigerian system.
He further argued that, had the funds being wasted on efforts to address insecurity was deployed to the education sector, the current mounting population of illiterate youths would have been avoided.
Shittu added: “If we had paid more attention to education, we won’t be where we are today.”
Citing example of the South West in the First Republic where the Premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made education free, Shittu said education should be made free and declared as a human right, to which every Nigerian should be entitled.
He added that no well educated individual would consider living in the forest (as is the case with bandits, terrorists and kidnappers) as a way of life.
Shittu expressed disappointment that majority of those involved in insurgency, banditry and kidnapping are mostly Muslims, who, he argued ought to know that it was wrong to take the life of the innocent.
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