By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The Governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari has disclosed that the security situation in his domain has improved significantly.
He also disagreed with the National Assembly for calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare State of Emergency on security in the face of increasing insecurity across Nigeria.
Gov. Masari who spoke to State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President Professor Ibrahim Gambari at Presidential Villa Abuja on Wednesday, argued that security agencies have helped to bring the security situation in Katsina state down.
According to him: “actually the situation is still of high concern, insecurity is real and we’re doing everything to make sure that we control the situation so that it doesn’t reach the level it reached before and we’re hopeful that working together with the security agencies and the responsible people and also the repentant bandits will be able to have our state will back to normalcy”.
On whether the call by National Assembly asking for a State of Emergency can help to solve the problem?
Masari said: “It (State of Emergency) cannot because how can state of emergency solve the problem? You have a situation where the military are in all the states of the federation, then you ask yourself, how many do we have? Are we not over-stretching them? So the reality is the responsibility of securing this country is ours, all of us. We have a role to play and we must play it for the sake of the country and for the sake of our children and grandchildren, not for the sake of the persons that in office.
“I think we have to understand that whatever we do to restore security today, we are not doing it for one particular person or group of persons, but we are doing it for all of us, for the country and in fact, for Africa. A stable Nigeria means a stable Sub-Saharan Africa.
“So I think we better be serious about this issue of security. If you say set up state of emergency, what do you do? We are having the same people, the same security agencies, the same capacities, and the same resources. So what are we talking about?
“We have a problem that everybody has a role to play, we better play it. Politics should be over, the security situation of this country is beyond partisan politics, it’s a national concern for all of us, every responsible person in this country.
Asked how non-remittance to Federation Account by the NNPC will affect states?
Masari said: “I think it’s something that we’ll have to work towards, without resources, again, it’s another factor that affects security, you cannot create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the rural communities. What do we do to make sure that those who are recruiting the youths in the localities are not given opportunities, do not have an upper hand? It’s with resources state governments and local governments will be able to contain some of these restive youths so that they can be used for better purposes because most of them might be foot soldiers to the bandits.
“So I think we have to look at this issue seriously, it will significantly affect the even the capacity of states to pay salaries and to do what is necessary for the smooth running of government and also fund of the security agencies, the logistic requirement of security agencies.
“I think these people better visit the states and see what the states are doing”, he concluded.
