Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has decried the negative impact of security challenges on the economy of the state, and the nation at large.
He made the observation on Tuesday when he played host to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2nd Division, Nigeria Army, Ibadan, Major General Laz Ilo, who paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Asaba.
The governor explained that if measures were not adopted to curtail acts of criminality, they were likely going to constitute major threat to the state and nation’s socio-economic and political development.
He said: “Crimes such as kidnapping, maritime threats and armed robbery have posed major challenge to our state, but our government have been working with security agencies to ensure that we are able to tackle effectively these vices in our society.
“We are also working effective with the military and we are trying to put things together to see how we can tackle the menace of kidnapping, vandalism and issues concerning armed robbery.”
Okowa, who used the medium to appeal to youths in the state to give peace a chance, advocating for synergy among security agencies and government at all levels for a peaceful and investment friendly environment.
He said the youths had a responsibility to support the efforts of government at all levels towards the protection of the nations’s oil facilities and pipelines, rather than engage in acts of economic saboutage.
“I believe that there is a need to engage our people and we are putting in place bodies in government that will very soon engage with our communities effectively to ensure that we will nip crisis in the bud.
“I have always asked for the security agencies, the Military, Police, Directorate of State Services and all other agencies, to collaborate with each other.
“We are on the verge of trying to ensure that we are able to work more closclosely with minimal funding to be able to achieve our dreams so that we can have a more peaceful state,” Okowa said.
The governor noted that for citizens to live in a violence free, secured and peaceful society, there was the urgent need for collaboration among the various security agencies and communities in order to check criminality.
He also explained that a peace atmosphere remained a vital ingredients for investment to thrive in any given economy, adding that it is only then, would there be jobs for the teeming youths and people.
“I believe that as we continue to collaborate with each other in our various states and nation, then we will have a more peaceful and investment friendly nation and to that extent we will be able to create jobs.
“So by the time you are able to take up a lot of youths in our programmes of job creation, we are likely to reduce the number of idle hands that will begin to think of creating crisis and insurgency,” Okowa said.
While commending the security agencies in the state particularly the army, the governor decried the spate of kidnappings in the country and promised continued support for the security agencies to combat the menace.
He disclosed that the state government would soon embark on rural advocacy campaigns to engage the various communities and youths on peace building so as to nip crisis in the bud.
Earlier in his remark, The GOC, 2nd Division, Nigeria Army, Major General Laz Ilo said that he was on a familiarisation tour of all army units and formations under the Division.
Iloh explained that his team was visiting army formations to acquaint themselves with the people and governments in the seven states that make up the Division.
He reiterated the readiness of the Nigerian Army to combat security challenges and reduce criminality and lawlessness to its barest minimum so as to make the nation conducive for investment.
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