Insecurity in Nigeria: 'Decentralize power to State Police', Obasanjo Aligns with Gbagi on Solution

Insecurity in Nigeria: 'Decentralize power to State Police', Obasanjo Aligns with Gbagi on Solution

Erstwhile president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has aligned with the position of leading governorship aspirant in Delta State, Olorogun Barr. Kenneth Gbagi, on the need to transfer powers to the State Commissioners of police.

 Gbagi expressed his view that "without adequate security, there is no nation". The security expert noted that in a well-run nation, the office in charge of security is the office of 'The National Security Adviser'. Obasanjo, on his part, said nation building could only be achieved when government was able to guarantee a safe environment for citizens, stressing that it would take the creation of state police to tackle the insecurity problem facing the nation.

The ex-President spoke on Friday in Lagos during a lecture titled: "Social responsibility in nation building", which he delivered at the 78th anniversary of Island Club.

 

Hear him: “I have said it before and I will say it again. Nigeria should have state police in all the states so that they can adequately tackle insecurity. Guaranteeing citizens a safe environment and round security is one thing a government must do.

“No nation can be built where peace, security and stability are not assured or guaranteed and with reasonable predictability of the President and the future not enthroned.”

Obasanjo also said a government that failed to listen to its citizens was doomed to collapse, “Any government that is deaf, dumb and blind is a government that will not last. As a government, you need to listen to the people. If you fail to listen to the people, the day of reckoning will come for you and it will come soon. We can see it all around us; it has come.

“You have to realize that there is an element of hazard in life itself. What would make you not talk? Fear? There is a Yoruba proverb that says, ‘You talk, you die; you don’t talk, you’ll still die.’ Death is inevitable. As I am here, I am not afraid of death.

“It is painful what we are seeing. There are currently over four million out-of-school children in Nigeria. That is a fact. They cannot hide that. No Nigerian should bury their faces because they are scared of death. State the fact; if they want to deny it let them deny it.”

He urged Nigerians to embrace their diversity and work as one nation towards a common goal of one Nigeria.

He added, “Diversity is of God; sameness is of the devil. We, as Nigerians, must learn to manage our diversity so that we can have one goal – the Nigerian dream. A nation is not formed until there is a stake and mutual dignity and responsibility and purpose for every component".

It would be recall that the Federal Government (FG), was called upon to decentralize powers to State Commissioners of police for effective and efficient combating of crime across Nigeria.

Olorogun Gbagi, made the call during the 3rd Annual National Conference of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Federal University of Lafia (FULAFIA), Nasarawa State, on Tuesday October 26th 2021.

The criminologist who delivered a paper with the theme: "National Security, Covid-19 and Social Issues in Nigeria", said: all the security agencies are working and coordinating jointly for the purpose of having one integrated security apparatus.