Lux Terra Raises Concerns over Insecurity in Nigeria

Lux Terra Raises Concerns over Insecurity in Nigeria

The Think Tank of the Network and Advocacy Group of Lux Terra Leadership Foundation held it’s fifth meeting on August 27, 2021 with the main theme being concerns raised about the current insecurity situation in Nigeria.

In their separate welcome remarks, the chairman and co-chair of the 5th session of the NAAG Think Tank, Fr George Ehusani and Dr Okey Ikechukwu (who was co-opted by the Co-Chair), expressed their happiness that in spite of the sad reality of heightened insecurity, disunity and mutual suspicion amongst the people of Nigeria, members are still able to converge, discuss and arrive at resolutions under a peaceful and convivial atmosphere.

According to them, the diverse background of the membership of the Think Tank, which is a fair representation of the Nigerian nation, makes the monthly Think Tank meeting a mini national dialogue of some sort, where issues of common interest are discussed.

The chairman and co-chairman of the session also expressed their gratitude to the members for their steadfastness and commitment to the realization of a Nigeria, where social justice, equity, fairness and citizen’s right reigns.

After an exhaustive deliberation on the state of insecurity in Nigeria, members expressed optimism that the current security challenges, though daunting, is nevertheless surmountable.
To this end a number of resolutions were reached on possible solutions to Nigeria’s security problems:

1. Given that the primary responsibility of government is the provision of security and welfare for citizens, advocacy should focus on the failure of governance and calling on those in charge of Nigeria’s affairs to rise above primordial sentiments of ethnicity and religion in the discharge of their duties.

2. For a better understanding of the root causes of Nigeria’s security problems, a proper labelling of the various criminal activities has become imperative as means of unravelling the motive, pattern and mode of the different armed groups operating in Nigeria in order to find a lasting solution to the problems.

3. The proper labelling of the different armed groups and their violent activities should be done in a manner that does not stigmatize and criminally profile any ethnic or religious grouping in Nigeria.

4. With respect to the frequent farmers/herders clashes, advocacy should concurrently focus on the impartial enforcement of law and order by constituted authority without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion or cultural occupation, while also putting in place policies and programmes that guarantee the economic rights of Nigerians wherever they chose to reside without prejudice to their cultural economic occupation.

5. The need to identify specific issues in the polity with national security implications that may require urgent and direct advocacy intervention by the group

6. Advocacy for social justice, peaceful coexistence, national integration, citizenship rights, inclusion, crisis prevention and management should be sustained in order to overcome Nigeria’s security and economic challenges.

By PRNigeria