The Director-General of the Progressive Governors` Forum (PGF) Salihu Lukman while speaking on the way forward in tacking the insecurity challenge in Nigeria has said the root cause of the problem must be addressed ‘poverty’ .
According to reports, Salihu said this in a statement on Monday, March 1, 2021 in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. He stressed that a good development can only be achieved if poverty is eliminated. He insisted that lifting more Nigerians out of poverty is critical to ending banditry, kidnapping and abduction of school children in Nigeria.
He added that there has to be a special framework to guarantee security of Nigerian farmers while stressing the current high rate of kidnappings by killer herdsmen across the country.
The PGF DG said that the focus of governments at all levels should be to lift more Nigerians out of poverty by ensuring successful implementation of government initiatives. he stressed that military action alone was not sufficient in addressing challenges of banditry and kidnappings in the country.
According to him, “Our loyalty to our leaders must, as necessity, include getting our leaders to succeed in lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
“That is perhaps the only insurance cover that can support us to begin to move towards peaceful coexistence in the country,’’ Lukman said.
Further speaking, he noted that it is a good thing, however, that the APC and its leadership were not in denial of the reality on ground.
Lukman said that since May 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari had declared Federal Government`s commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
He noted that since 2015, the government has been implementing National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) which was far more than what past governments had done.
