Report by ALI MUHAMMAD RABIU; Editing by BASIRAT MEMUDU
The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) has expressed worry over what it called the alarming rate of insecurity in the country.
The association, in a statement signed by its president, Professor Hassan Saliu says ” Reports from Benue, Borno, Plateau, and other places in the last few weeks have indicated that Nigerians who live in these parts of the country can no longer sleep with their eyes closed because of the renewed insecurity situation.”
According to the statement, before now, the feeling, especially among government officials, was that the country was on the path to subduing insecurity.
It explains that many factors have been adduced for why the country has been enveloped by insecurity, ranging from ungoverned spaces to religious fundamentalism, poverty, and external conspiracy among others.
The statement blames “exclusive politics that ignores the people in the nation as the main cause of the insecurity being witnessed”.
It notes that it is observable that instead of energy being focused on making Nigeria safe for her people to live anywhere they choose in the country, politicians’ attention are focused on the 2027 elections, which no one can predict who will witness.
The statement says this is the time for the politicians to realize that politics only has meaning when the security of the people’s lives is guaranteed.
It says that the lives of Nigerians and their property need to be accorded top priority in the country’s governance, noting that politicians should lower their concern for politics and accord priority to securing the country first.