The governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam, on Wednesday asked the federal government to seek other measures, rather than employing the State of Emergency tactic, to quell the Boko Haram insurgency and return peace to the affected states.
Mr. Gaidam said the emergency rule in the three North Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, has failed to achieve any result.
In a statement issued by the governor’s adviser on media, Abdullahi Bego, the governor said since the last three phases of emergency rules had seen increasing Boko Haram attacks and deaths of multitude including soldiers, it would make no sense to extend the failed strategy for yet another six months.
He said if the federal government insists on going ahead with extend the emergency rule, it must come up with sub approaches like improving the living standards of the affected people, investing more on education, healthcare services, and agriculture as well as empowering the soldiers to be able to fight the war against insurgency.
Read the statement below:
The statement reads; “Two days ago, news filtered that the National Security Council has approved yet another extension of Emergency Rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
“Over the past 12 months when the Emergency Rule declared by Mr President was renewed twice, after the first one, His Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam had approached the renewal with caution, always emphasising the need for an all-hands-on-deck approach where the military troops on the ground are sufficiently kitted by the federal government and people across the affected States pitched in to do their part through vigilance, community surveillance and helping the security forces in every way possible to defeat the criminals and insurgents who are wreaking havoc to this day.
“However, ongoing Emergency Rule has, so far, failed to roll back and contain the disaster that is Boko Haram. Only ten days ago, our very young students full of hope for the future at Government Science Technical College (GSTC)Potiskum were killed in a very evil and grotesque manner. And there were many others before them in four schools across our State and in communities across the affected States.
“His Excellency Governor Gaidam believes that the presence of military troops on the ground is absolutely necessary but not sufficient to take the war to the insurgents and to defeat them. There are other vital ingredients which must feature now if the current extension is to enjoy any success at all.
“One of these, Governor Gaidam believes and has voiced out on many occasions before, is the absolute need to provide every weaponry and military gear that the hard working troops on the ground need. From Afghanistan to Somalia, terrorists and insurgents are defeated or forced into hiding only through the use of advanced weaponry.
“His Excellency the Governor has said before – and it bears repeating now – that the federal government also needs to adopt or build on an approach that addresses ongoing security challenges from the bottom up. That means actively partnering with local communities and community leaders to get them to enrol more actively in the fight to restore peace and security.
“His Excellency Governor Gaidam believes that the federal government can do this by providing more support to affected and distraught communities than is currently the case. With more support to people who have been displaced or who have lost limps, livelihoods or loved ones to the criminal activities of the insurgents, it’s more likely that people will participate more actively going forward.
“And this, by the way, is a measure that the Yobe State government itself has taken as His Excellency the Governor pushes on with mobilisation effort to get people throughout the State to continue to pray for Almighty Allah (SWT)’s direct intervention and to stay vigilant and help the security forces with useful information.
“Governor Gaidam believes also that the federal government should invest more in education and infrastructure in the Northeast as a special measure to help people recover. There is no question that the affected states are doing their best in so many ways under very difficult circumstances but the federal government can help accelerate the process by intervening in road construction, rebuilding and re-equipping of schools, and by setting up regional skills hubs where young people and women would get the training they need to support themselves and their families.
“Given the overwhelming presence of insurgents in border areas, Governor Gaidam also believes that the federal government should take multilateral relationship with the neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon to a new level by getting them to more actively support our fight for peace and security.
“The governor is of the opinion that when pursued with more energy, these and other measures have the potential to help us defeat all the criminals and insurgents out there who are bent on destroying us all”.
source: premiumtimesng
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