Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has enjoined the Federal Government to take pragmatic steps aimed at reversing the “dangerous trend” of insecurity, collapsed educational system, poor investment climate and increasing corruption.
He gave the advice on Friday while delivering a lecture on the topic “Creating a culture of peace through service” organised by the Rotary International Conference, District 9125 (Nigeria) at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
Atiku particularly harped on the need to address the security challenge in the overall interest of the country.
He also catalogued the various challenges confronting the nation, including the challenge of providing adequate security, reducing conflicts, narrowing the infrastructure deficit, providing gainful employment especially for the youth, and rebuilding our educational system.
“The people are being ravaged by diseases, including malaria, measles and polio. We also rank very poorly in various indices of development such as poverty rate, life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality, and literacy rate.
“Hardly a day goes by without news of fresh slaughter of fellow citizens in one part of the country or the other. We have violent insurgents, armed robbers and kidnappers. Specifically, there are violent insurgencies in the North, particularly the North East as well as in the South of the country.
“Violent militancy is also once more rearing its head in the South-South. Kidnappings in the South-East and South-South have become all too common and are increasingly spreading to other parts of the South, especially Lagos.
“We also have violent struggles between Muslims and Christians, herdsmen and farmers. The words “indigene” and “settler” continue to be used as exclusionary tools in the struggle for scarce resources. Even security operatives, sent to protect innocent civilians, have been accused of atrocities against those same civilians. It is as if we have lost our souls.
“The economies of Borno, Yobe Plateau, Kaduna and, increasingly, Adamawa states have been badly hurt by this wave of insecurity,” he lamented.
Atiku Abubakar believes the challenges have “excised the minds of many Nigerians, including political and civic leaders. Whatever the immediate causes of these conflicts and insecurity, there is no doubt that the high level of unemployment, poverty and accompanying alienation, especially of our young people, have provided veritable recruiting grounds for these insurgencies and other forms of criminality”.
He therefore, called for all hands to be on deck “to build a nation that knows peace”, adding that such collective work “requires sacrifice; it requires selfless service. It requires commitment. It requires transparency. It requires fairness and justice”.
While agreeing that conflict is an integral part of the human condition, the former Vice President also contended that “peace is, without a doubt, critical for development”.
According to him, provision of critical infrastructure such as roads and electricity can only be possible if workers would be able to work unhindered and without fear of being kidnapped.
“We need massive investments in power, roads, bridges, ports, schools, hospitals, and transportation. Such investments will immediately create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and they will, in tandem with incentives and an open and fair legal environment in turn, spur investments by private entrepreneurs both local and foreign.
“These will in turn create even more jobs for our teaming young people, thereby depleting the recruiting grounds for insurgents and other criminal elements.
Peace and security are needed for these to happen. That is why the government must do all that is necessary in a democratic society to protect lives and property,” he charged.
While hoping that emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa does not “obviate”, Atiku Abubakar urged the federal government to “engage aggrieved groups in dialogue while taking decisive security measures to protect innocent people”.
He enjoined the organizer, Rotary Club to “be pragmatic, realistic and honest in your deliberations”, saying it would be very helpful if they could come up with strategies for encouraging greater service and volunteerism in our country”.
