The former Governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi, has declared that the failure of leadership in addition to the high level of poverty in Nigeria have continued to stimulate insecurity in Nigeria.
Obi, in a media interaction in Abuja, pointed out that if the government can sincerely put measures in place to lift Nigerians out of poverty, by supporting small scale businesses and creating jobs for the youth, security challenges in the country will disappear automatically. Obi was of the view people, especially the youths, would easily take to crime when they are living in poverty, unemployed and did not know where their next meal was coming from. He advocated: “But the situation can be turned around with good economic policies that will strengthen the private sector, support business growth and generate employment.”
The PDP stalwart decried government’s insincere approach to the fight terrorism in the north. He stated that the government indirectly encourages banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other security crisis by engaging in round table meetings or negotiations with the criminals.
“When the government begins to call bandits and kidnappers to a meeting, then, the end to insecurity is probably not in sight. When people are financially rewarded by the government, and handsomely too, for criminal activities, what makes you think others will not join the business”, Obi declared.
Obi further declared: “I support the establishment of police force at the community, state, regional and then federal levels. This will help attack insecurity at the grassroots and also give different regions the power to combat security threats in their territories.”