By Mohammed Baba Busu
“If we have the resources, we will put in all to ensure that we protect the lives and properties of our people,”Gov Sule reacting to the arrest of suspected masterminds of the killing of APC chairman, late Philip Tatari Shekwo, in the State.
There is no doubt, for the economy of any society to develop and compete favourably among its peers around the world, provision of security for its people is key.
To put it straight, security is among the key drivers of modern economies around the world.
It is only when there is adequate security that people can move around and go to their farms or engage in meaningful ventures that will generate income.
When he assumed office in May 2019, Governor Sule Abdullahi of Nasarawa did not hide his interest in providing security for his people.
To demonstrate his determination to fight crime and criminality and ensure the state is safe, during his inaugural speech, the governor said:
“Development would only occur if there is atmosphere of peace and security of lives and properties.”
To achieve this, considering that he inherited a backlog of security challenges bedeviling the state, Governor Sule organised what many security experts regarded as a strategy meeting.
This was in an effort to end the lingering inter-ethnic crisis between residents of boundary towns of Benue and Nasarawa.
During the meeting, which was high profile in nature, Governor Sule with his delegation including traditional rulers, local government chairmen and other stakeholders, met with his Benue counterpart, Dr. Samuel Ortom together with his delegation.
The crisis revolved among the Tivs, Alagos and Fulani herdsmen.
During the meeting, Gov. Sule warned that any breach of the law by any of the sides would not be condoned and appealed to residents of the affected areas to live in peace with each other.
One notable step taken by the Governor to ensure that the state is well secured from incursion of criminals is his regular meetings with the traditional rulers of the state.
It is well known that traditional rulers are on ground and are equally the custodians of every community, hence, working closely with them in the area of providing security for the people is laudable.
The regular meetings with traditional rulers in the state, according to analysts, have given the rulers a sense of belonging and also involved them deeply bin the security of their localities. This has yielded positive results in the level of peace and tranquility being experienced in all parts of the state.
The governor has also devised what many described as an ingenous way of ensuring crime and criminality are reduced to the barest minimum in the state.
JOB CREATION:Perhaps the governor believes that insecurity goes hand in hand with unemployment, prompting some deliberate efforts to address the monsters.
The governor has therefore resuscitated many moribund industries in the State.
Many new ones have also been built. He has made the state investor-friendly, hence, many business interests are already flourishing in the state.
This, no doubt, is increasing opportunities for gainful employment. Many others are benefiting indirectly from these establishments.
In a recent interview, the governor reiterated that reducing unemployment level was a way of reducing to the barest minimum, the level of insecurity in the state.
“Coincidentally, when you talk about insecurity, the worst case is not Karu Local Government where you have the influx of people; Karu becomes the second most populated council in the state after Lafia Local Government, but it has become the highest with diversity in the state, yet that has not resulted in making the council the worst in terms of insecurity.
“From what you have seen and what you are hearing like Nasarawa Local Government in the State, today has become the major challenge, especially around Udege area.
“We have also seen recently the amount of insecurity going on in Akwanga, Obi, Keana, Doma and Awe local government areas.
“One of the issues that we have continued to preach is the fact that without security, there won’t be development especially with my policy thrust of industrialisation.
” No investor is interested in going into any environment that lacks security; so security is actually our requirement number one; so what do we do about how to improve security, we are working more towards preventing insecurity rather than addressing the issues once it comes in.
“One of the biggest challenges in Nasarawa State which resulted into high crime rate is actually lack of what to do by some of our youths.
“So I want to approach insecurity from the area of providing employment to the youths, providing certain people with what to do; even those that have retired, sometimes they want to engage in one economic activity or the other, it is said that an idle man is the devil’s workshop, so we are trying to engage the people in doing things that they should be doing.
“In that way, they may not think too much of going into crime.”
Another major step in curtailing insecurity in the state is the partnership between the state and the Federal Government to establish the Police Mobile Training College at Ende Hill in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state and the establishment of the Air Force Base in Lafia.
These two institutions are strategically located to halt the activities of criminals in various parts of the State
