Insecurity: Details Of What Ahmad Lawan Told Security Chiefs Emerge

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has expressed great concerns about the growing insecurity plaguing Nigeria.

The number three citizen of the country lamented that the insecurity in Nigeria is now at a frightening level and has negatively affected other areas such as agriculture and crude oil production.

Naija News reports Lawan made the submission on Wednesday when he met with the nation’s security chiefs alongside other leaders of the Nigerian Senate.

He said though the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari has invested so much in the security sector than previous administrations, a lot still needs to be done due to the rising security.

The Senate President promised that the lawmakers would continue to partner with the executive for better results as he pointed out that more needs to be done to tackle the rising insecurity.

The meeting of the Senate leadership with the security chiefs comes a few days after some of the Senators gave a six-weeks ultimatum to President Buhari to fix the challenges of insecurity or face impeachment.

In his words, “This Senate particularly and indeed the previous sessions of the National Assembly generally, have shown serious commitment and partnership with the Executive arm of government.

“As far as I can remember, there has never been an administration in this country, especially since the Fourth Republic started in 1999, that invested so many resources in the security of this country like this present administration.

”We believe that as a National Assembly, we have always met this Executive at the right position, at the right time, most especially when it concerns investment in the security of life and property in Nigeria.

“We have also, in our individual capacities as committees of the National Assembly and in fact, as a National Assembly, shown concern about the security situation.

”The security of any country cannot be 100 percent satisfactory but of course, there is a level at which no country can be comfortable with insecurity.

“Ours has lingered. We had hoped that by this time, the security situation would have been far better and Nigeria would have made more progress not only in the area of security but also in the area of the economy which is tied to the security situation.

Praise For Security Forces

He said despite the current situation in the country, the security forces have been committed to defending the nation from criminals.

”I believe that all security agencies and armed forces have been doing their best but apparently we have to do more to achieve what we desire.

“There are, of course, several arguments whether the resources available to our Armed Forces and our security agencies are enough or not.

”Definitely not enough. I don’t know of any country where there is enough really. But even within the scarcity that we have, this administration and this National Assembly have always prioritised the security of our country.

Why Security Chiefs Were Summoned

“This particular session of the interaction between us is to look into where we are today and probably this current position where we are is most frightening because it is like there is nowhere to hide and nowhere to go.

“Insecurity is everywhere. And it is coming to the point of dislocating the security situation where the government is quartered. We will review all strategies and see what more we have to do.

“Our population is largely peasant. Most of our people are in the rural areas and they live their lives by going to farms. In many parts of the country today, that is a Herculean task.

“My belief is that we can do better to secure the rural areas. The so-called ungoverned space. At least for our population who go to farms to earn their living.

“Where our agricultural productivity is drastically going down, that will complicate the security situation because the most ordinary Nigerians care more about what he or she or what the family will eat. And of course, all other things are secondary.

“We have problems with our economy to some extent because of insecurity. No foreign direct investment or not as much as we would ordinarily attract to our country.

“The level of oil theft is of industrial scale today and many of the oil companies, especially the oil majors don’t feel the environment is secured enough for them to continue with their business. Our oil will be useless if there is no room for us to export and earn revenue.

“The government may find it difficult to provide services if something is not done.

”Our crude is stolen at such a high scale and that means our revenue is drastically going down.

”I hope that our discussions will give us the opportunity to consider other things or other areas or ideas that we didn’t have before.”