Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi on Thursday said the present insecurity in the country is a result of the failure of past leaders who failed to address the future of young people.
The Governor made the comment while appearing on a monitored Channels Television programme.
According to Umahi, it is not proper to blame the present administration for the heightened insecurity in the country as the reasons are systematic.
However, he posited that consultations and sincerity are some of the approaches that can be employed to secure the nation.
“When people talk about the recent insecurity in our country, I keep saying that the insecurity did not just develop overnight,” he said.
“It has been a result of the failure of our past leaders to address the future of our youths. And this is the truth. So it’s not a question of blaming Mr President or blaming Governors or blaming APC or PDP; it is systematic and it has been there for a very long time.
“I think that we must deploy sincerity in our approach; we must deploy consultation, wisdom and prayers. If all these are put together, I am sure that the insecurity in the country will be a thing of the past.”
Nigeria is battling several security challenges, including but not limited to an insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, secessionist agitations in the South-East and Farmer-Herdsmen crises across the Middle-Belt and several South-West states.
Mr Umahi, who is also the Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, said the insecurity situation in his region has been exacerbated by secessionist agitations by locals, the problem of foreign herdsmen who invaded the region and the general rise in the cases of cultism and armed robbery.
In Ebonyi, the Governor said communal crises are being “fuelled by political interests” in the form of “misguided comments by desperate politicians who want power at all cost.”
He also advocated for the reintegration of young people who have gone into crime into the society.
