Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Bauchi state Governor Bala Mohammed has said the country needed a honest, virile, visionary and capable leadership to tackle the myriad of challenges bedevilling the nation.
Governor Mohammed spoke Tuesday during the public presentation of “Scents of Power,” written by a celebrated columnist, Dr. Amanze Obi, at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre Abuja.
The governor, who lauded the author for his literary interventions on national issues, lamented that “as we reach the twilight of this administration, it is clear that as a nation, we are at a crossroads.
“Yet, as the senseless bloodshed continues to dominate our lives, our fight is on more than a single bloody frontline. Rather, and as I shall outline to you today, there are three fronts on which we must wage a war on behalf of our beloved nation: On national survival, on national security and on nation-building itself.
“I posit that, away from the prevailing destructive zero-sum politics of exclusion and alienation that has brought out the worst in all of us and threatens the very fabric of our existence, we must return to the politics of accommodation and shared values, as the only way to build the future we desire for our children.”
On national survival, national security and nation-building, he said: “Nigeria is in trouble; nobody can deny this fact. The morphology, geography and architecture of national crises and insecurity are huge, overwhelming and mind-boggling. How we got to this sorry state of affairs is indeed critical but more important is identifying and building the consensus to resolve the complex security threats facing the nation.”
The former FCT minister said, “from bloody farmer clashes, cattle rustling and armed attacks by militant herdsmen to kidnappings, abductions, cult wars and urban criminal gangs, our people have faced unimaginable horror and suffering. Quite simply, national insecurity is bleeding the nation to death.
“The key to tackling the scourge of national insecurity – the biggest impediment to nation-building, national development and inclusive growth – is understanding what works and applying it. This means not only addressing the symptoms of violence, but also its root and cause.”
“We require a national dialogue with all national stakeholders to build mutual trust, eliminate suspicion, separate organic conflicts from contrived conflicts and reach a common settlement on what works to reduce violence, killings and national instability. Only then can we implement a systematic approach to redressing the core issues amidst the grief and chaos.
“While the violence itself has brought great suffering, it is the delayed and lacklustre response that has elicited the most unbridled anger. As a way out, the need to develop a national early warning centre and parallel mechanisms with which to coordinate strategies at the national, zonal, State, LGA and community levels are essential desiderata for eliminating the unwholesome scenario whereby our people are left to fend for themselves, he said.
