Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, a former presidential candidate, has said that the country’s fight against insecurity has significantly declined, thereby weakening the nation despite its historic contributions to restoring peace in some West African countries during their civil war eras, news.ng reports.
Olawepo-Hashim, in an interview on Arise Television on Monday night, recalled the accolades the country’s brave military officers received in the 1980s and 1990s for assisting war-torn nations in decimating rebel groups in those countries.
According to him, those were the times Nigeria had patriotic leaders.
He said, “I think we are seeing a high degree of lack of commitment to secure the country and sometimes complicity in what we’re seeing.” Nigeria has not been this weak. We sent soldiers to Liberia to stop this kind of mayhem in Nigeria.
“We sent soldiers to Syria alone to stop this kind of brutal killing by the rebel group in Syria alone. We helped other nations like we had in Darfur and all that. That’s when we had leadership that were really patriotic.
‘No matter the shortcomings, whether they were military, Nigeria was high on security, and it was a stabilising force in other countries and nations that faced this. It’s basically lack of patriotism, not lack of capacity.”
When asked if the country is getting used to the rise in insecurity, particularly in the northern part of the country, the political figure answered in the affirmative, saying that kidnapping, which used to be rampant in the northeast, is gradually gaining momentum in the southwest.
He affirmed, “It’s becoming normal and we will see attempts to suppress this information. Now, this is happening in the southwest, so very close to media attention. That’s why we’re talking about your boomer show and all that.
Well, to be fair, we talk about it. We had Borno. No, no, I’m not regionalising it. I’m only saying that it’s proximate to media attention.”
Responding to questions on who should be held responsible when innocent schoolchildren are abducted from their schools, the renowned businessman said the federal government, which controls the security apparatus, should be held responsible for the failure to provide security for schools.
While there have been calls for state police to decentralize security operations in the country, Olawepo-Hashim blamed legislators for their laxity in giving urgent attention to police reform.
He added: “The federal government controls security… Well, that’s why we have asked.
“Five years going for decentralization of the security management police system. That you must have local and state police, just as you have in most serious nations.
“Trying to fast-track after three years in government? After 18,000 people have been killed to this type of violence? We’ve lost over 18,000 people, according to Amnesty International’s record. In the first 90 days, these are things you could do in 90 days.
“When they want to pass favourable legislation, such as the electoral act, it doesn’t take them to pass it. Why is it taking forever to decentralize policing? If that’s a priority, they will achieve it.”
Watch the clip: