Former Head of State, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar has identified poverty, unemployment as reasons behind the high rate of insecurity in the country.
While speaking in Abuja at the first News Agency of Nigeria inaugural annual lecture on Thursday with the theme ‘‘Insecurity in the Sahel, 2008 to 2024: dissecting Nigeria’s challenges, genesis, impact and options”, Abdusalam said aside poverty, arms proliferation and bad governance also contributes to insecurity.
“These factors have certainly created a fertile ground for insecurity to thrive, with devastating impacts on our dear nation.
“We must not, however, lose faith in our capacity to ride above the storms of insecurity, since this challenge is the business of every Nigerian, and indeed, all Africans,” the former Head of State said.
He added that Nigeria’s development has been stalled as a result of insecurity which has ravaged every part of the country.
“Nigeria’s security challenges cannot be divorced from the regional heritage in the Sahel, a vast landmass which encompasses the troubled countries of Burkina, Chad, Mali, and Cameroon.
“In the year 2020, a whopping 4,660 people were killed in this region, while another 2,600 civilians lost their lives in banditry attacks in 2021,” he said.
He called for collaborative efforts to tackle insecurity, environmental degradation, poverty among other contributing factors.
“We must work together to fight insecurity because we owe our children, the future generation, the duty to create a secure nation,” he said.
Commending organisers of the programme, Abdusalami said Nigeria needs constant discussions such as the one organised by the government agency to address issues affecting the country.
“At such a trying time in our national life, this effort to enliven public discourse on the debilitating challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, for ransom, malignancy, and violent violence, among others, will go a long way in providing solutions aimed at boosting our security architecture,” he said.