Choosing the right leaders will solve Nigeria’s insecurity – Yahaya Bello

Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi says choosing the right leaders to govern Nigeria is critical to resolving the insecurity in the country.

Bello made this known while delivering a keynote address at the National Security Summit organised by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday in Abuja.

Our correspondent reports that the summit was themed “National Security through Youth Engagement”.

According to Bello, the political class and leaders at all levels of governments are responsible for taking the critical decisions, hence insecurity can only be resolved with the right leaders in power.

Bello however noted that as much as the political class are the first managers of security, it is the collective responsibility of every citizen to contribute to the security architecture of the county.

This is also as the governor urged the youths who constitute the highest demography of the county’s population to do a thorough research and assessment of who they choose to govern them.

Bello also urged Nigerians to consolidate the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to effectively tackle the security challenges in the country.

“Security is the business of each and everyone of us. I want to use myself as an example and as I always say, I will never fail in my responsibilities and blame it on President Muhammadu Buhari.”

“The responsibilities that are lying on our shoulders, myself and you, has to do with the first level of security management, which is, management security and who are the managers of this security?”

“The management of this security are the politicians, take your minds a little off the Service Chiefs.”

“The top-level management of security in Nigeria are the politicians, the political class who are those that are in charge of our political decisions.”

“The question now is, who are we projecting, show me his records, all of us have our history from inception of democracy in this country, that is the responsibilities that rest on our shoulders.”

“Who are we ready to do political hallelujah boys for? Until we are ready to face the facts and tell ourselves the truth that the situation that we find ourselves today, we exactly called for it,” Bello said.

He said that Kogi has become one of the safest states in the country because his administration has put the right policies in place with citizens sensitised on their role in securing their environs.

“As far as Kogi is concerned today, insecurity is largely a thing of the past, this is not how we inherited Kogi State, today, every citizen as far as Kogi is concerned are so informed, aware and educated.”

“They know who to be hired to represent them at all levels, they know who are the criminals amongst them,” Bello added.

He said that the summit was timely as he urged NANS to come up with a strong communique that would be a guiding path to advancing good governance and enhancing security of the country.

“We must get both our security and education right; if we get one wrong, the other will follow. We must have takeaways from this event and not a talk shop like other programmes,” the governor charged the participants.

Mr Asefon Sunday,the President of NANS, said that the Summit was organised to create a platform where relevant stakeholders would discuss the challenges and consolidate the efforts of President Buhari to addressing it.

Sunday stressed the need for collaborative efforts to prevent the spread of all forms of violence and insurgency in the country.

He added that Nigerians should avoid the dangers of allowing the menace of insecurities degenerate to ethnic and religious conflicts.

“Calling for this crucial summit underscores our realisation that the time has come that we all ensure that all hands must be on deck to combat this security challenges.”

“The business of security is no longer the sole responsibility of government but of all citizens, which all organisations and individuals must be part of henceforth.”

“There is no doubt that governments at every level have made several frantic efforts at addressing the prevailing insecurities in the land, especially as it is now affecting our education system.”

“The summit is important because we want to collectively discuss the several security challenges in our country.”

“And how we can consolidate on the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration toward finding a lasting solution,” Sunday said.