Why It Has Been Difficult To End Terrorism In Nigeria – FG

The federal government has highlighted reasons why it seems the fight against insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria has lingered for so long.

Advancing reasons why Nigeria is still facing such levels of insecurity despite government efforts, the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume noted that there is a huge gap between policy formulation and implementation.

He added that the responses to emergency situations as well as management of poverty and insufficient inter-agency collaboration are all factors responsible for the current situation.

Akume, a former Benue State Governor made the submissions on Wednesday in Abuja at the formal launch of a book titled: “A Planner’s Perspective on Disaster and Conflict; Issues of Forced Displacement of Persons, Management in Nigeria”, authored by Bassey Ita Etim-Ikang.

In his words, drastic action must be taken to overcome the security challenges currently facing Nigeria as a country.

The Minister submitted that internally displaced persons (IDPs) should be catered for and rehabilitated in order not to push them into crime when they don’t have any other means of survival.

He said: “The challenges facing Nigeria include but not limited to inadequate emergency preparedness and response, the gap between relief materials management and durable development projects, and ad-hoc planning and policy intervention.

“There is also lack of institutional and legal framework for the management of internally displaced population in Nigeria, insufficient or absence of inter-agency collaboration which mostly results in agencies working at cross purposes with duplicative activities.

“The lack of a defined strategy and appropriate national framework of cooperation among relevant agencies and institutions to design sustainable action plan for medium-long terms projects have been a huge deficit for policy makers.

“Therefore, all efforts to minimize the vicious cycle of violent conflicts and crisis arising from abject poverty and deprivation including lack of inclusive management structure based on bottom-top approach to grassroots participation that recognizes peace and confidence-building mechanism have just been put in place by the ministry.”

The Author, Etim-Ikang, who is a Director of Human Resources, in the ministry, said he hopes relevant stakeholders including members of the academia, government, and security agencies will adopt recommendations of the book to address the growing cases of killings and insecurity ravaging the country.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani-Kayode has stated that a generational shift of power to the young is needed if Nigeria wants to remain one.

The former Minister of Aviation made this known in a post on his Twitter page on Wednesday.

According to the PDP stalwart, 2023 will determine everything about Nigeria’s unity.

He stated that agitators for restructuring and self-determination are always tagged as dangerous extremists by the Nigerian government.