10th February, 2021
By Nimot Adetola Sulaimon
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has warned politicians against ethnicizing the spate of insecurity in the country.
This, he said, might ignite widespread bloodshed among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria.
According to him, the issue of insecurity remains one that the National Assembly will continue to debate, as it affects the welfare of Nigerians.
However, he emphasized the need for more funding to the military to enable it to tackle the spate of widespread insecurity in several states across the geo-political zones, as a result of the growing activities of Boko Haram, bandits, and kidnappers.
He said, “There’s no better investment today in Nigerian by the government than making more resources available to our security agencies because security is the major thing that government can do to change the lives of the people for the better.
“So, we will continue to discuss and debate here. This will not be the last, but the tone, the issue, the main theme should change. That may be by the time we discuss this kind of thing, here again, it should be that we have made a shift; that we have moved positively, that we are trying to only make it better.”
“We should not be frustrated, we should not be discouraged. What we are talking about here is being listened to, even when it appears to us that there’s no sufficient implementation of what we are doing.
“But the Executive listen to what we are talking about, and Nigerians also listen. And, of course, some Nigerians will not understand that we don’t have execution power, but we can continue to oversight, continue to insist and be persistent that these are real issues that our government – including us – must address,” Lawan added.
Lawan underscored the need for increased partnership between the Federal, States and Local Governments in the fight against insecurity.
“I believe that there must be a better and more intense partnership between the Federal Government and the States. We cannot expect the Federal Government alone to address the insecurity in the country.
“Also, I believe that at one point, the state governments are closer to the people, and in fact, even the local government.
“Some of the issues can be better settled at the local level because the Federal Government cannot go and settle two communities fighting in a state or local government. But the Local Government Chairman or even the Councillor could come in.
“But what the Federal Government can do is to arm the security agencies properly and well, so that they are able to deal with any situation that needs their attention,” he said.
Furthermore, Lawan warned politicians against making unguarded comments capable of throwing the country into flames and dividing Nigerians along ethnic lines, adding that the fight against criminality remains the responsibility of security agencies to address.
“Recently, in most parts of the country, political leaders have decided to throw caution to the wind.
“Political leaders must be careful of what we say in a very incendiary environment because the people listen to us as their leaders.
“So, if we appear to be divisive, they will find justification in taking actions that all of us will regret.
“Nobody is saying the situation is okay; the situation is not okay. If you have criminals occupying areas they shouldn’t be, of course, the security agencies must take the necessary steps to ensure they address the situation.
“But these are criminals, and that is a specialized criminal activity. All other criminals must be flushed out, otherwise, how do we have peace?
“We have to address criminality, we have to defeat criminality, but we also have to nip in the bud that desire and excitement sometimes of people speaking as champions of their tribes and ethnic groups.
“We are simply leaders, and the people of this country expect us to keep them United, and this is a responsibility that we will account for to the people, and to God Almighty who created us and made us leaders,” the Senate President said.