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| Solomon Dalung |
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Solomon Dalung, Friday,
called for State of Emergency in Plateau and other troubled states to
check the persistent killing of innocent people in the affected states.
Dalung, who made call when he fielded questions from State House
correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, condemned the renewed
killing of people in some local government areas of Plateau in the past
days.
He said the situation was worrisome and had become imparative for
President Muhammadu Buhari to impose state of emergency in Plateau,
Benue, Zamfara and Taraba so as to put a stop to the unwarranted
killings in the states.
He frowned at those apportioning blame on the federal government over
the persistent crisis in the Plateau, saying that the state and local
government authorities should be held responsible for the problem.
According to him, “Collapse of local government administration had
contributed immensely to the inability of the security personnel to
arrest the problems.
“The Plateau crisis can be traced to many years of inaction by
previous and current administrations in Plateau state despite the
Federal Government’s efforts to address the problem.
“It is disheartening that Plateau state has been witnessing killings
of innocent citizens in the last four to five days and this is very
annoying and disturbing to the government and inhabitants of the state.
“I alerted the Federal Executive Council on Sept. 5 on the need to
take drastic and emergency measures to tackle the crisis because the
local and state governments have failed in their responsibility of
offering useful information to security agents despite the huge
resources being spent on security.
“It has therefore become imperative for the federal government to
declare state of emergency in Plateau and other troubled states across
the country so as to put a stop to the killings.”
Dalung warned that nobody should politicize the
killing of innocent Nigerians as the federal government was doing all it
could to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book.
He further stated that the government had already put in place
measures to check cases of insecurity, adding that Nigeria needed peace
and stability for the country to progress and achieve meaningful
development.
He said, “But security personnel alone cannot achieve much in
addressing the problem without the support and cooperation of the state
and local governments as well as the local communities
“There is the need for collaboration between all the three tiers of
government, the local communities and Youth Councils in order to find a
lasting solution to the crisis.”
The Sportd Ministers l identifier lack of strong and dedicated
leadership at both local and state levels as main factor responsible for
the inability of the combined efforts of the security personnel to
check the killings in Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and other troubled
states.
He, therefore, advocated for the re-reintroduction of Crises Resolution Committee at the local government level.
He explained that the committee’s membership should be drawn from
religious bodies, traditional institution, Cattle Breeders’ Association,
farmers’ organisations, women and youth organisations.
On the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the
2019 presidential election, Dalung said the party’s presidential
candidate, Buhari, had no serious challenger from the opposition
parties.
According to him, no Nigerian politician in recent history is as
popular and admirable as President Buhari, adding that the president has
millions of votes already guaranteed him by his `traditional and
die-hard’ supporters come Feb. 2019.
Dalung also dismissed the insinuation that President Buhari was
desperate for power, saying that the president was only interested
addressing the nation’s socio-economic challenges for the general good
of the country.
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