Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has mocked other governors who run to Abuja to see President Muhammadu Buhari on the insecurity crisis in their respective states. Governor Bello on Channels television on Thursday stated that the security agencies in the country are the major instruments of fighting crimes and insecurity, adding that they are the same everywhere and are the source of solution to the insecurity crisis.
“The Nigeria Police that are in the country today are the same in Kogi State. The Army in the country is the same in Kogi State. All the law enforcement agencies we have in the country today are exactly what I have in Kogi State.
Governor Bello had declared: “So, when they provide such information, we act on it, we don’t pay lip service, we don’t pass buck, we don’t visit Abuja for solutions at all times. I do not think there is any day I have ever visited Abuja for any solution. What I do is to sit down here and do my job.”
The governor maintained that state actors in Kogi collaborate with the security operatives to evaluate the security situation and proffer intervention means to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
“We are corroborating, the commissioner of police, my director DSS, my Army commander, my naval commander, civil defense commander, we are collaborating and they are relating very well with the citizens, they connected to the people and leadership at all levels are doing their best starting from the community leaders, ward leaders, the local government chairmen, and leaders, youth leaders, market leaders, farmers and what have you. We are collaborating very well,” Governor Bello highlighted.
The Kogi governor, however, emphasized that governors should collaborate to enforce policies that will contain the killer Fulani herdsmen across the country. He stated that the Federal Government’s national livestock transformation plan should be revisited and should not go down the drain, expressing his support for RUGA across Nigeria.
According to Governor Bello: “When the issue of livestock transformation was muted, it was first given the name Ruga. Ruga means a settlement of herders or livestock farmers.
“When it broke out in this country, it was politicised. That ‘Mr. President wants to take our lands.’ I think, when we stop politicising every government policy and programmes, we will get it right.”
He, however, did not consider the development of the vast land in the north for RUGA to resettle the Fulani herdsmen.