Prominent clerics, religious leaders and eminent personalities of Ilorin on Friday asked state governors to adopt the strategy used by Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi to tackle insecurity.
The calls were made at a special prayer for the nation and symposium against insecurity, convened by religious leaders in the Kwara capital.
Dr Mohammed Gambari of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Ilorin, who delivered the keynote address, said the fight against insecurity could not be left only in the hands of governments, however.
He noted that everyone must come together to fight and liberate Nigeria from the hands of “liens who have turned to blood-sucking demons’’.
“Together, we must make Nigeria better for our generations yet unborn to live quality lives,’’ he stressed.
Prominent Ilorin indigenes also singled out the Kogi governor for the strategy of involving all indigenes in the fight against insecurity.
They also praised him for keeping youths busy with worthy jobs and making the task of securing the state everybody’s business.
Guest Speaker, Dr Hadi Atanda, Director, Academic Planning, Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, particularly said a leader like Gov. Bello must be given a chance to lead the country come 2023.
“We can play politics, but when it comes to the issue of security of lives and property, we must rally round those that are getting it right and also take lessons to make our domains better instead of engaging in acts of sabotage.
“Kogi was carved out of the old Kwara and so we can gladly say Bello is one of our beloved sons in whom we are very pleased.
“The state is bordered by 10 states, yet since the assumption of this young governor, there has been relative peace, and enough calm to make Kogi the safest state in the north, if not the safest in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Atanda added that Gov. Bello had demonstrated the capacity to lead Nigeria effectively in his present position.
He said it was no longer in anyone’s interest to fold arms and watch the daily spilling of blood in the name of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of crime and criminality that had almost become the order of the day in Nigeria.
Ace Nollywood actor and an indigene of Ilorin, Chief Adebayo Salami, also said the level of insecurity in the country had become alarming.
He called on everyone to make the fight against insecurity their business.
Religious leaders whom spoke, called on Ilorin descendants, all Kwarans, and indeed all Nigerians, to rise against insecurity in Nigeria and make life unbearable for criminals.
They called on politicians and governments at all levels to desist from politicising the issue of insecurity in the interest of all Nigerians.
Prayer for the nation was led by the Imam Gambari of Ilorin, Imam Sulaiman Al-Gambari.
The symposium had “Rise against Insecurity in Nigeria’’ as its theme. (NAN)
