Former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has highlighted poverty, unemployment, and weak governance as major drivers of insecurity in Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.
Speaking to Truth Live News and other reputable media houses at the first News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) inaugural lecture in Abuja, he pointed to these factors, along with climate change and environmental degradation, as critical elements fueling unrest and violence across the Sahel.
The theme of the lecture, “Insecurity in the Sahel, 2008 to 2024: dissecting Nigeria’s challenges, genesis, impact and options,” offered a platform to address the ongoing security crisis affecting countries like Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali. Abdulsalami noted that thousands of lives have been lost due to insecurity, citing figures from 2020 and 2021 where over 7,000 people were killed across the region.
Abdulsalami emphasized that collective action is needed, calling for cooperation among all Nigerians and Africans to ensure the future generation inherits a secure nation. He also praised NAN’s efforts to drive a public discourse aimed at addressing these deep-rooted security challenges.
For a nation dealing with economic hardship, this lecture brings to light the broader context of insecurity, linking it to socio-economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, and poor governance. At a time when citizens are grappling with these daily struggles, the government’s role in addressing these fundamental issues will be critical to long-term peace.
Public sentiment, already strained by economic challenges, is likely to demand faster and more transparent actions from the government to address these root causes.