Recent developments on Tuesday have shown that there are strong indications that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum might have subscribed to dialogue with bandits and people affected by their atrocities to address insecurity in the country.
These indications became clear when the Chairman of the NGF, Dr Kayode Fayemi led some members of the forum on a solidarity visit to the Niger State Governor, Sani Bello, in Minna, the state capital.
Recall that gunmen on Wednesday last week stormed Government Science College, Kagara in the Rafi Local Government Area of the state and abducted 27 students and 15 workers.
The Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi stated that “we all feel your pain. We feel the fears and the anxieties of the good people of Niger State. This is not something that is uncommon. What happens here is not unique to you. You have been part of several delegations to Bornu State to Katsina State, to Ogun State and to Oyo State. As a matter of fact, you were in Ogun State when the Kagara incident happened, and you had to rush back home in order to attend to the challenge in Niger State.”
“We don’t want to come here on a cycle of lamentation. That’s not our job. Yes, we want to be compassionate. Yes, we want to be sympathetic. We want to feel the pain of our people because our first responsibility as governors as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution is the security and welfare of our people, but we don’t want to lament because the citizens want us to fix the problem. Our people just want us to find a permanent solution to this cycle of violence, insurgence, banditry, criminality, and brigandage in our country.”
Fayemi called for proper coordination among the security outfits, adding that the synergy was required for optimal result in ending the security challenges bedevilling the country.
Indicating that governors might consider dialogue, he stated, “We also need to explore other avenues side by side with whatever the security institutions are doing if that means engaging in dialogue We may not have a choice. We may have to do that, anything to help us to deal with this immediate crisis and then to begin to address on a much more longer time basis, the root causes of this social dislocation responsible for what we are witnessing, all around us.”
The NGF chairman commended the measures taken by Bello which resulted in the release of the passengers that were abducted in the Niger State Transport Service bus on February 14.
Responding, the Niger State governor said the solidarity visit of his colleagues was a morale booster to him and the people of the state.
He added that the time had come for the Federal Government to do the needful in addressing the security challenges bedevilling the country.
According to him, state governors have limited powers especially when it comes to the control of the security apparatus in the country.
Bello stated, “Time has come for the federal authorities to key in and work with state governments so that we are able to provide adequate intelligence and find a lasting solution to this menace.
“We are state governors, but we all have our limitations when it comes to control of operations. We do not fully control the Army, Air Force or even the police.”
Bello said that he was fully in support of adopting kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to curb the banditry.