Nigeria’s political leadership on Tuesday blamed the rising level of insecurity in the country on poverty and youth unemployment.
This was the conclusion at the end of a meeting that President Muhammadu Buhari and some state governors had in Abuja.
Buhari also declared at the meeting that the terrorists are not better equipped than Nigerian military.
Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said this in a statement Tuesday.
Titled “President Buhari, governors end meeting with calls for protection of civilian communities, improved intelligence-sharing,” the statement was issued at the end of a meeting that the involved Buhari and some members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in Aso Rock, the seat of power.
“President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors Tuesday ended their meeting on the state of the nation’s security with calls for a joint strategy to bring various conflicts to an end within time limits, while field commanders would take measures to protect civilian communities as a confidence-building mechanism between the military and those communities.
“It is hoped that when the trust that has been lost between both parties is re-established, there would be improved cooperation in intelligence-gathering and sharing.
“The meeting also agreed that poverty and youth unemployment are at the root of the nationwide security challenges, and needed to be addressed with greater vigour by all tiers of government.
“The three-hour meeting coordinated by President Buhari, and attended by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, heads of defence, security and intelligence agencies, and members of the Security Committee of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum represented by one governor from each of the six geo-political zones (in a Virtual Format), focused on the country’s security policies and approaches in tackling the internal security challenges with a charge that intelligence-gathering and sharing must be optimised for the nation to secure itself.
