Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara says dialogue and reconciliation remain most plausible solutions to banditry and other security challenges.
Matawalle told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that dialogue and reconciliation of bandits had yielded alot of results since he assumed office as the governor of Zamfara.
He said that the state had recorded a year of zero incidence of bandits’ attack in the state following the adoption of dialogue with the bandits.
He said that insecurity was the major problem in the country, especially in the north western part of the country where gunmen could attack at will.
“As I have mentioned earlier, the issue of insecurity is not just one man’s business, it is for all of us.
“Whether you are a security agent, a normal citizen or anybody, what is important is for all of us to come together and make this issue our own and confront it squarely.
“When I assumed duty as the Zamfara governor, I know that before the first 100 days, we have achieved alot on our part which was not been achieved for the past six years.
“This was achieved because I called everyone to be involved and issues were discussed.
“Stakeholders were invited who were political leaders, traditional institution and other security heads.
“We put heads together and that is why we initiated the issue of dialogue and reconciliation with the bandits and this yielded alot of results in the state.
“Every state needs to adopt this initiative to have a peaceful country, ” he said.
Matawalle emphasised that the issue of insecurity is for all to come together and find lasting solutions to it.
He said other parts of the country would need to key into this initiative.
“Once we come together as one and have one stand, I believe it will work for us.
“Although, we have been discussing among us all and I can assure you that very soon we will have a lasting solution to this issue.
“I also want to appeal to Nigerians that God does not make mistakes and he made Nigeria for us to live together.
“Lets find out what the problem is first, that is, let us find out the root of this problem then, we can now know how to solve this problem.
“Nigeria is very versatile, someone cannot just come in a day and say let us break out. Not possible!
“What we will do is how can we understand ourselves, because we are together.
“If you go to my village, you will see Igbo people there with their stores, the same thing with the Yoruba.
“They have so many things they are selling in my place. We are one already.
“The only thing we need now is to sit down and analyse what the problem is.
“This is better than saying we should divide, ” he said.
Matawalle emphasised on the need for one another to tackle issues bedeviling the country rather than divide, saying , ” it is important for all to preach peace and coexistence of the country.”(NAN).
