Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has heaped the upsurge of insecurity in the Northwestern region of the country on high rate of poverty and unemployment, saying that, such should be urgently be addressed if the country must make headway in its fight against insecurity.
He disclosed this at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna when he received members of the Kaduna State Elders Forum, who were on a congratulatory visit over his victory at the Supreme Court.
Sani said that poverty and unemployment in particular were responsible for security challenges ravaging the North-West region, saying the best way to tackle the menace was through good governance.
“We are also looking at the non-kinetic approach to addressing the security challenges. But, the issue of non-kinetic approach is not just about talking with the bandits, negotiating and asking them to submit their weapons, that is only one aspect of it.
“The most important aspect of non-kinetic approach is good governance. No matter how much we talk and try to bring about peace, if we don’t look at the area of good governance, we will never end the problem of insecurity in the Northern Nigeria in particular.
“People always talk about how the problem of insurgency was ended in the North-East, but insurgency is not the same with the problem of banditry and kidnapping that we have in the North-West. The North-East issue was about people that came from nowhere and talk about ideology of Boko Haram.
“What we have in the North-West is an economic problem, where people kidnap and ask for money. What brought about that? Hopelessness, lack of education, and lack of economic prosperity.
“The problem of the North West is lack of education and financial exclusion. Over 85 percent of the people in the North West are either not educated or financially excluded. So, there is poverty and if we don’t address poverty by supporting our farmers and increasing productivity, we will not address the problem of insecurity”, Governor Sani said.