Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday bemoaned rising insecurity in the country and declared that “Nigeria is at the crossroads.”
“Today, we are challenged by insecurity, sadly it is all over the country,’’ Lawan lamented.
“The story is bad, everyday it is either kidnapping, assassination or some kind of banditry that leaves our people and communities shattered and destroyed,” he told the audience at the 60th birthday celebration of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
Speaking at the event in which the governor presented a book titled These Times: Selected Writings and Speeches by Nasir El-Rufai, he said with 13 million or 14 million out-of-schoolchildren in the North is “dangerous for the country.”
Lawan said: “Nigeria is at the crossroads and more than ever now requires the unity of the people. The issues bedeviling Nigeria today requires that all leaders, at all levels and in all parts of Nigeria need to come together to ensure that the security and welfare needs of the people are adequately met.”
According to him, Nigeria is at a point where the provision of infrastructure alone cannot sufficiently address the underlying causes of the growing insecurity and illiteracy in the country.
“What we need is not only infrastructure, we need the capacity building of the people. In this part (North) of the country, this report has been consistent and apparently, little has been done to reverse it,” he said.
Lawan called on the Federal Government to immediately introduce policies that would return the over 13 million or 14 million out-of-school-children in the North back to the classrooms.
His words: “Until we are able to reverse this kind of trend, no matter how much infrastructure you put, you will still have that social angle that will actually lead to serious insecurity, the kind that we experience or even worse, God forbid. So, we need to look at the people.”
The Senate President admonished Nigerian leaders to live up to the responsibilities of their respective offices by demonstrating courage and acting expeditiously to guarantee the protection of lives and property in the country.
“Today, we are challenged by insecurity. Sadly, it is all over the country. This requires that all of us at every level of government come together and work to ensure that lives and properties of citizens are protected.
“I want to take the opportunity of this celebration to send this message, that, as leaders, we owe the people, not only the explanation, but actions.”
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