Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has pointed to poverty, unemployment, hopelessness, and lack of education as the driving factors behind the escalating insecurity in the North-Western region of Nigeria, as reported by Channels Television.
In a recent appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Governor Sani highlighted the distinct nature of the security challenges faced in the North-West, categorizing them primarily as economic issues rather than insurgency, which is more prevalent in the North-East.
According to Governor Sani, the crisis in the North-West manifests in the form of banditry and kidnapping, primarily rooted in economic grievances.
He emphasized that the modus operandi of the bandits often involves kidnapping innocent individuals for ransom.
In instances where the ransom is paid promptly, victims are released, but delays may result in tragic outcomes as the criminals resort to taking lives.
“The North-West crisis has to do with banditry and kidnapping, it is economic problem,” the Governor began.
“When you look at the situation critically, you will agree with me that most of those bandits always kidnap innocent people and ask for ransom, and whenever they are given money, they will release the victims in many cases and some cases, when there is a delay, they end up taking the lives of those victims,” Governor Sani explained.
He further said,
“And when you look at the situation, you also look at the problem of poverty, unemployment, hopelessness and lack of education particularly in the Northwestern part of Nigeria, that is the reason why a lot of these incidents happen.”
The governor backed his assertions with compelling statistics, pointing out that a substantial percentage of the North-West population lives below the poverty line.
He cited a recent report from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that indicated approximately 80 to 90% of people in the North-West are grappling with poverty.
Additionally, he drew attention to the concerning number of out-of-school children in the region, emphasizing that a significant proportion of these children hail from the North-West.
“The last time I checked, and you can confirm from the SDGs recent report, you would agree with me that about 80 to 90% of the people living in the Northwestern part of Nigeria are living below the poverty line.
“And of course, if you look at the statistics of out-of-school children, you can see that a lot of them are from the Northwestern part of Nigeria,” Governor Sani stated.
Governor Sani acknowledged the government’s non-kinetic approach, which involves granting amnesty to criminals who surrender.
However, he emphasized that addressing the root causes of insecurity requires a more comprehensive strategy.
While bringing criminals to justice is one aspect, the governor stressed the importance of focusing on improving the general conditions of the populace, including tackling poverty, unemployment, and hopelessness.
According to the governor, the most important approach to ending the menace is to look at the condition of the people in general which includes poverty, unemployment and hopelessness.