......Says agitations across the country as a result of injustice, failed leadership, corruption*_
Valentine Ozigbo, the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) frontrunner in the race for Anambra governorship, has offered practical steps that governments in Nigeria should take in addressing the security challenges in the county.
In a statement issued from his campaign office in Awka on Saturday, May 1, 2021, the capital of Anambra State, Mr Ozigbo condemned the attacks on innocent Nigerians and called on the government to demonstrate responsibility by securing the lives and properties of every citizen.
Ozigbo, the immediate past President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, declared the current security crisis as "an existential threat" and offered solutions towards restoring peace to the country.
"We are facing an existential threat. The value of human lives is fast eroding to nothingness. A once peaceful state like Anambra has now become a theatre of violent crimes," he said.
Mr Ozigbo recommended immediate steps that the government can take towards solving the security crisis.
"I have been calling for state policing and more community involvement in securing our local communities by way of vigilante groups for some time now. These are globally accepted templates with evidence-based results," the respected business leader declared.
"Recruiting the police from within the community helps to engender confidence and strengthen crime-fighting. It is about time we try novel solutions to solve this crisis."
Touching on the various agitations for self-determination in several regions of Nigeria, Ozigbo maintained that these were "a direct result of leadership failure, injustice, and unimaginable corruption by our political class". He also cited a weak educational system and a crumbling economy as factors contributing to the security crisis.
In his words, "We cannot continue to pretend as if we got here by accident. The crisis we are currently facing is a direct result of leadership failure, injustice, and unimaginable corruption by our political class."
"Nigeria needs a vibrant economy that will keep our youth employed. We need to educate all our children so that they will not become easy tools in the hands of warmongers, terrorists and those hellbent on destabilising our country," Ozigbo continued.
"Our economy and our educations system need emergency action, in the same measure as our security apparatus does. We need to provide world-class and universal education to all our children.
"We need to come up with rich impactful programmes that will engage our youth and empower them to channel their energies to production and value creation.
"Our economy needs to be re-engineered to create opportunities for our youth. Emphasis must go to small and medium enterprises with a view of pulling millions out of abject poverty in the shortest possible time.
"Government intervention in the economy must not be populist tokenism as we have seen in the past. Instead, we need robust action to kickstart economy to work again for everybody," he said.
Ozigbo called for unity in confronting the country's insecurity challenges, saying that matters of security and the lives of fellow Nigerians should not become a political sport.
"This is a matter that calls for all hands to be on deck for the sake of our country. Difficult times such as this calls for statesmanship, not brinkmanship," he declared.
"We must rise to the challenges of our time and unite behind a common vision for peace and progress. The lives of all Nigerian matter."
Valentine Ozigbo is one of Nigeria's most recognisable philanthropists who channels his charity work through his foundation, Valentine Chineto Ozigbo (VCO) Foundation. He resigned from his seat on the board of Transcorp Plc and those of its subsidiaries, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Transcorp Power Limited, to focus on his next chapter in public service.