President Bola Tinubu has reiterated the commitment of his administration to address insecurity in the North-West and the country in general.
Tinubu gave the assurance on Monday in Katsina at the opening of a two-day Summit on Peace and Security in the North-West, organised by the North-West Governors’ Forum, in collaboration with UNDP.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the summit is: “Regional Cooperation for securing lives and livelihoods”.
Represented by the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, the president urged Nigerians to continue to unite as a people and embrace peace for development.
“We promised to make Nigeria safe and the security agenda has been a top priority of the administration for the past one year.
“We are not slowing down until we achieve our goal,” he said.
Tinubu said that the government would continue to ensure that every child goes to school and returns home safely, while the farmers would plant seeds in a secured environment.
The president said that the government was strengthening collaboration with all the stakeholders and it had intensified military operations to address the situation.
Tinubu, however, pointed out that it was disheartening that Hausa and Fulani, who have been one before, were now divided and fighting each other.
He stressed the need for them to embrace peace for the development of the zone and the country in general.
In his remarks, Gov. Dikko Radda of Katsina State, stressed the importance of confronting the menace collectively , saying,”because it is a concern to all.”
Radda said that their goal was to provide peace, security and ensure property in the region.
He urged that the summit must address the root causes of the insecurity to enable the governments to address the menace.
The governor revealed that ensuring every child access to quality education and youth empowerment would assist in tackling the menace.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, said that the problem has persisted over a long period, hence the need to provide answers to the root causes of the problem.
“We have had a series of conferences on this problem, we must provide solutions to them.
“We have met with the Northern Governors’ Forum four to five times on the same issue. We must tell ourselves the truth about what we must do to challenge these bandits,” he said.
Abubakar assured continued support of the traditional institutions in addressing the problem.(NAN)
By Zubairu Idris