Nobody is safe in this country- Governor Kwakwanso

He disclosed this in an interview with AFP,
yesterday. Kwankwaso said the insurgency was
fuelled by social and economic inequalities in the
region compared to the richer, oil-producing south.
He said Jonathan, a Christian from southern
Bayelsa state, had failed to heed advice and
address the problems.
“There is a very strong correlation between
poverty, unemployment
and illiteracy on the one
hand and of course the issue of insurgency or
insecurity on the other,” Kwankwaso said.
“A very poor man who is looking for something to
eat can easily be persuaded by the insurgents to be
recruited. So, also, the unemployed and the
illiterate. And that is exactly what is happening.
“The president has been warned by many people in
and outside the country, including (former US)
secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
“I’m sure there are many people that told him that
long before now but he didn’t take the advice and
now we are reaping the consequences.”
Kwankwaso said he welcomed the help of “friendly
countries” in the search for more than 200
schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters last
month.
But he questioned why Nigeria was no longer able to
tackle the situation on its own, given the military’s
history of involvement in peacekeeping operations
overseas.
“Under normal circumstances, Nigeria should be
strong enough to defend itself. We don’t have to ask
our friends — the US, UK and so on — to come and
help us.
“I have to say that it is very disappointing today that
we have to ask some countries to come and help
us because as at the time I left office as the
minister of defence, we had the capacity to protect
every square metre of this country.
“I don’t know what went wrong but this is where we
have found ourselves. We have to look for support
from elsewhere and that is what those in the saddle
of leadership are looking for,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the five-year insurgency had left
everyone a target, from ordinary civilians to the
police, military, government officials and traditional
rulers.
His own father narrowly escaped injury after
gunmen attacked a mosque in his village in
January, killing three worshippers.
The range of people attacked put paid to claims that
politicians in the north were stoking the insurgency
as a way of destabilising the government in Abuja,
he added.
“Every class is a victim and we hope the
government works as tirelessly as possible to end
this state of insecurity we are now facing.”

Source: vanguard.