Why Nigeria’s not secured, by Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar yesterday gave insight into why there is insecurity in the country.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar yesterday gave insight into why there is insecurity in the country.

Poor governance, among other issues, Atiku said, is the cause of the rising wave of insecurity in Nigeria.

He spoke at the annual founder’s day celebration of the American University of Nigeria, Yola, with the theme: ‘socio-economic dimensions of Nigeria’s internal security challenges’.

The former Vice-President said government should fix the education system and get youths back to school.

His words: “What kind of society are we building when about 80 per cent of school-age children in the Northeast and some parts of the Northwest are not in school?

“Our energies on what needs to be done urgently, enforce rules, value the people, show fairness and equity and assist and protect the most needy and vulnerable.”

In a statement by the Deputy Director Communications of (AUN), Innocent Okorie Nwobodo, Atiku said: “One of the tragedies of the Nigerian situation, in my view, is that we tend to think of security as though it is disconnected from economic and political development, when in fact, they are inter-related. Sometimes we even look for imaginary enemies when the enemies are us. What I am trying to say here is that the rising wave of insecurity in the country results largely from socio-economic challenges: high level of unemployment; high level of illiteracy; and poor and unaccountable governance.  Put another way, it largely results from the inability of the government to fulfill the aspirations of our people, especially our young people.