Insecurity: Governors Deviating From Real Matter — Senator Ndume

Former Senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume, All Progressives Congress, APC, Borno South, yesterday took a swipe at Southern governors for banning open grazing in the south.

He also said as chief security officers of states, the governors should stop the blame game and get to work to resolve the insecurity in the country.

Ndume, who noted that the insecurity problem in the country had nothing to do with the open grazing of cattle, said there were different security challenges associated with the geo-political zones of the country.

Citing insurgency in the North East; agitation by members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB in the South-East; banditry in the North West and herders-farmers clashes in South West, North Central and in the South-South, the lawmaker said all hands must be on deck to address the security challenges.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Ndume said until Nigerians considered insecurity as a huge problem, it would be difficult to see the end of the crisis.

He also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to take the issue of security very seriously, asking the government to stop the salaries of politicians to get the needed resources to tackle insecurity in the country if that would nip the crisis in the bud.

Ndume, who also suggested that the government could source for money through borrowing in the same manner resources were sourced to fund infrastructure and other developmental projects across the country, said:  “The President should make the issue of security a priority. ”He should leave every other thing and concentrate on security. That means even if they will stop paying us and use the money to tackle security. Is it not when you are secured that you talk of other things? It is not only the politicians but everybody.

''If you know that you cannot move out of your house and they say sacrifice your salary, won’t you do it? Many people are working from home, yet they are being paid. They should stop paying salaries and address the whole issue of insecurity. If you don’t have money, stop paying salaries and allowances and use the money to provide security.

“If you are borrowing money to provide infrastructure, why can’t we borrow money to protect our people.”

On the governors, he said: ''This blame game should stop. As far as I am concerned, this blame game will not solve the problem. Governors are the chief security officers of their states, so, why are they talking about the President without talking about themselves? The governors are deviating from the matter. The problem is not about open grazing.

“The problem is security. Much of the insecurity confronting Nigeria is not in the bush. We have four different types of security challenges. We have the insurgency in the North East, IPOB through the Easter Security Network is creating insecurity in the South East, there is banditry in the North West. It is only in the North Central that we have issues of farmers-herders clashes.

''There is less problem in the South – West except for the clashes between the herdsmen and the farmers and the agitators for the Yoruba nation. Similarly, in the South-South, they are trying to instigate the avengers but so far, the area is peaceful.

”The issue of insecurity is unique to each zone. President Buhari has taken charge of security personally now. It used to be the Chief of Staff or the Minister of Defence who were having meetings with service chiefs, but today, the President has taken charge of the problem.

''That is a good development and I hope we would start seeing results, but the most important thing is for them to be provided with the necessary equipment to prosecute the war and their allowances should be paid in time.”

Ndume also wished the Muslims a happy end of Ramadan.