Insecurity in Sokoto is offshoot of Zamfara, Katsina banditry —House of Reps member

THERE is high level of insecurity in your constituency and the state at large. What is your plan in addressing the problem?

It is unfortunate that things are happening this way. Sokoto, which used to be one of the most peaceful states, has found itself in this situation. I want to believe that what is happening in Zamfara and Katsina states that border my local government and the adjoining local governments of Goronyo, Isa and Sabon Birni is what is affecting us.

Those bandits find it easy crossing over to the bushes around there. They don’t live there. They come to create that scenario and fall back into their bases. From all the surveillances that are being carried out by the military, none of those bases was established in our territories. So, it means they are mobile. They come straight and perpetrate the dastardly act and return to their base.

But we all know that things are not possible without local accomplices. There are bad eggs among us and I believe the security agents are on top of the situation. They will arrest them. Nemesis will catch up with them.

Various motions had been raised on the floor of the House, concerning this insecurity problem. I raised one of the motions and the House resolved to take it up this time around. Part of it is the complete overhaul of the security system. The security architecture of the country is being overstretched. We are talking about over 200 million people being managed by a paltry 300,000 thousand policemen.

There are global requirements that need to be met in policing and we fall short of them. That is why we are having this problem. So, the security system needs to be overhauled. We need more men in the Nigerian Police; competent men and not just any men.

Even the recruitment process is faulty. There are people that are known to be criminals who found themselves in the police force. It is like giving a license to a thief to steal or connive and perpetrate this kind of terrorism that we are facing.

I called it terrorism because somebody that would scare or displace a large number of people from their houses, wreaking havoc, etc doesn’t have any other definition than terrorist. They are terrorising the people. But I believe that by the time we resume, we will sit to deliberate on how we can go about it.

In the interim, the Nigerian Army, the police and other security agents are taking steps to ensure that this area of the country is secure and the people displaced are settled and taken care of.

There is speculation that Sokoto State government is going into negotiation with bandits. Are you in support of that?

You see, if you look at the other side of the whole thing, there are governmental failure that bring about all these issues. At the floor of the House, I raised this issue. We are facing the consequences of population explosion, because we have not been able to manage our population properly. The population itself is something we are supposed to be proud of, because we are supposed to be a target market.

We must find a way to manage the population. As a government, it is a task that we must get right. Look at our primary schools. In every part of the country, they are not up to the standard that you are expected to be proud of as the second richest country on the continent.

This is a rich country in agriculture, oil and even human resources; but its basic things, like primary education, are failure. There are so many pupils that are out of school because the government cannot come out with implementable policies to get them back to school.

What is your take on the recently suspended RUGA settlement by the Federal Government?

RUGA initiative is a very good programme which I think Nigerians need to understand very well. It is to create enabling environment for herders to be able to settle down and herd in an environment whereby you can identity who and who is occupying a particular RUGA. You will be able to issue them with licenses and it will encourage establishment of agro-allied investments. Milk and meat processing will also improve. It is a very good programme, but it is being thrown away by some agents of destruction. There are some people that are bent on destroying this country. This RUGA policy is a very important policy, which will check all these illegal migrants, who, in the name of rearing their cattle, cross the borders to cause havoc. When you give them a particular place, you don’t expect them to move to another place.

I urge Nigerians to embrace this policy as it is a very good policy. There are so many countries like Holland, Israel, Ethiopia and others that have embraced this RUGA system. They call it different names, but it is still the same RUGA, which is to settle herders in a particular designated area, while the government would be able to have their data and provide them with necessary facilities. By so doing, businesses would spring up. The agro-allied industry that relate to herders will spring up. This includes meat processing, milk processing and even manure processing.

So, it is a very good programme. Nigerians should have a rethink. Thank God, the government has proved to be a responsible by suspending the programme and open doors for more consultations. I believe it should be a thing of interest by the state and not to be imposed on them. Any state that keys into it will benefit from it at the end and I believe others will follow later.

As a member of the National Assembly, do you know of any law being proposed that will guide proposed community policing in the country?

There is a discussion ongoing in the National Assembly concerning that. I may not understand your term of community policing, but I am giving an insight on my own understanding. If I need like 2,000 policemen to guard a local government and out of the figure, about 500 are officers and the remaining 1,500 are men, at least, 1,000 of these men should come from the host community. This is because they are part and parcel of the local government. They know every nook and cranny of that local government and they will be able to understand better than those posted to them from another local government or another state.

The officers can come from anywhere. The men on ground that will serve with him are within the communities. That is my own understanding of community policing.

I as a person stand against having state police just because I know myself as a politician. Politicians might not have the mind of using them to their own advantages.

How do you see the new ministers of Mr President?

I see them, as announced and screened by the senators, as competent. Some of them are returning. Remember, when we were campaigning around the country, we were talking of next level and you the meaning of that; literally, it is changing from your present position to another; no matter how little, we must expect performance. I am giving them the benefit of doubt that they will make a difference.

What should the people of your constituency be expecting from you?

They should expect nothing than better representation. I will work to see that we bring that representation that will let them feel the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

As an architect, what do you think Nigerians should expect from the National Assembly with regard to incessant building collapse in the country?

The issue of collapsed buildings has a lot to do with our society itself. An architect fully registered would not be consulted by Nigerians when they are building. Nigerians would consult quacks who, at the end of the day, would dance to their tunes. They avoid professionals because they (professionals) won’t dance to their tunes.

If you approach a competent architect and tell him your budget, he would give you the exact thing that would satisfy you within your budget limits. That is the problem. Most of these buildings that collapsed were supervised by quacks who know nothing about the profession. That is situation we found ourselves in. Luckily, there is national building law and I advise states that have not domesticated that law to do so. Once that is done, it will be clear to you that whenever you want to build a house, you do away with the services of the quacks, because if you do and anything happens, both of you will be in trouble. I believe that will go a long way to address the issue.