By Emeka Okafor
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says President Muhammadu Buhari has not shown enough commitment in the fight against insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities across the country.
Wike stressed that no government can provide good governance in an atmosphere of worsening insecurity such as the one Nigeria was currently facing.
The governor stated this when he appeared on Channels Television on Tuesday night, according to a statement issued by Wike’s Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He declared that no government can provide good governance when if it fails to protect lives and property, stressing that there was need by the Buhari’s government to redoubled its effort in tackling the fight insecurity in the country.
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The governor said the prevailing insecurity in the country was disturbing, maintaining that the prevailing insecurity across the country was a pointer to the salient fact that the country urgently requires State police to tackle terrorism.
“The issue of security is paramount in governance and when a government cannot protect life and property, then that government has failed. There are no two ways about it. There is no propaganda that can solve the problem,” he said.
He said the reasons insurgency, banditry, cultism, and other heinous crimes besetting Nigeria had continued to fester was because the Federal Government has failed to admit it lacked the capacity to tackle these security challenges bedeviling the country.
“The President of the country has not shown enough strength to say I am willing to fight this insurgency; I am willing to fight insecurity problem in this country. As a leader, when people see you are willing to do something, I can tell you, you will see that people will come out and give him their best,” he added.
The governor said there was nothing wrong with the Federal Government admitting they have obviously failed in the protection of life and property and that they need support, ideas to tackle the prevailing insecurity across the country.
He said it was heart-wrenching to hear the Governor of Niger State, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, lamenting how the Federal Government’s nonchalance to the security challenge in his state paved the way for Boko Haram to overrun over 50 communities.
Wike described as pathetic, the incessant cases of kidnapping, banditry, and murder of innocent civilians and soldiers.
“I think the federal government is not interested in the protection of life and property of Nigerians,” he said.
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He said there will be nothing wrong if the Buhari-led Federal Government should seek help from countries like the United States of America, China, United Kingdom and others that have faced and solved similar security challenges.
“If you are incapacitated, there is nothing wrong asking for help from people who have the capacity, who have what it takes to solve such problem. You don’t need to shy away because Nigeria is an independent sovereign country and therefore as a President of a country, you don’t need to seek help from outside.
“If you listen to the security men, they will tell you they lack equipment, they lack what it takes to fight terrorists or insurgents. They will tell you that, look, we don’t have the equipment.”
