Former military Head of State, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar has identified poverty and bad governance as major enablers of the unending insecurity that is currently challenging Nigeria’ and the entire Sahel region of Africa
General Abubakar, whose military administration midwifed the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, said that poverty, unemployment, and weak governance were some of the contributory factors heightening insecurity in the Sahel.
The former Head of State who stated this when he spoke at inaugural annual lecture of the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Insecurity in the Sahel, 2008 to 2024: dissecting Nigeria’s challenges, genesis, impact and options” General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was the chairman of the occasion, added that climate change, and environmental degradation among other factors, had provided fertile ground for insecurity to thrive in the region.
He said “At the heart of the insecurity in this region, among other factors, are the undercurrents of poverty and unemployment, and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
“Also weak governance, and institutional failures, as well as climate change and environmental degradation.
“These factors have certainly created a fertile ground for insecurity to thrive, with devastating impacts on our dear nation.
“We must not, however, lose faith in our capacity to ride above the storms of insecurity, since this challenge is the business of every Nigerian, and indeed, all Africans,” he said.
He regretted that insecurity has impacted negatively with serious devastating to Nigeria and the Sahel, particularly in stalling its development.
“Nigeria’s security challenges cannot be divorced from the regional heritage in the Sahel, a vast landmass which encompasses the troubled countries of Burkina, Chad, Mali, and Cameroon.
“In the year 2020, a whopping 4,660 people were killed in this region, while another 2,600 civilians lost their lives in banditry attacks in 2021
“We must work together to fight insecurity because we owe our children, the future generation, the duty to create a secured nation,” he said.
He commended NAN for organising the lecture, saying it would elicit a productive and thought-provoking response to address the situation.
According to him, the event is apt following the increased efforts of the government and other stakeholders in addressing the situation.
“At such a trying time in our national life, this effort to enliven public discourse on the debilitating challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, for ransom, malignancy, and violent violence, among others, will go a long way in providing solutions aimed at boosting our security architecture,” he said.
Abubakar said that the event would provide a platform for stakeholders to identify actors in the situation, identify root causes and proffer sustainable solutions.
“This lecture tackles terrorism, kidnapping, and violence, which will go a long way in proffering solutions to insecurity in the country