Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has urged the opposition to desist from politicising insecurity by suggesting that bandits can simply be bombed out of existence or forced into submission.
Sani gave the advice at the public presentation of Where I Stand, a book by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, translated into Arabic by Sheikh Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo.
The event, organised by Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), held on Saturday, with the governor representing President Bola Tinubu as Special Guest of Honour and serving as Chief Host.
He stressed that insecurity in the North West differs from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, which is ideologically driven, noting that poverty, unemployment, and rural neglect fuel banditry.
“Insecurity cannot be resolved solely through the use of firearms. Whoever claims otherwise is playing politics.
“We must fear God and stop deceiving the people because that approach will not work,” Sani said.
The governor lamented the decline in Nigeria’s security manpower despite rapid population growth.
“In 1970 after the civil war, Nigeria had about 300,000 soldiers.
Today, they are fewer than 250,000 while our population has grown by more than 100 million.
How then can anyone believe guns alone will solve the problem? It is impossible,” he stressed.
He also decried the absence of security presence across much of the North West.
“If you travel through Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, or the forests of Katsina, you can go 50 kilometres without seeing a single policeman, let alone a soldier. Large parts of this country have no security personnel,” he noted.
Highlighting the Kaduna Peace Model, which emphasises non-kinetic approaches driven by traditional rulers, religious leaders, and local stakeholders, Sani pointed to Birnin Gwari as an example where the Emir spearheaded peace efforts.
“We spent six months studying the root causes of insecurity and discovered that poverty, unemployment, lack of schools, hospitals, and commerce pushed people into crime,” he explained.
Sani insisted that political leaders must take responsibility rather than shifting blame.
“We should not deceive our people by saying President Tinubu or National Security Adviser Ribadu is responsible.
“They cannot go to Giwa, Birnin Gwari, or Dansadau forest to solve the problem for us,” he declared.
“We were elected to protect our people.
“I chose the non-kinetic approach in Kaduna State because God will hold me accountable in the hereafter,” he added.
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