Mr Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has said that Nigeria must immediately start state policing to solve the myriads of security challenges.
He said that with the movement for a better Nigeria in 2023, those in charge of elections will have no alternative than to do the right.
Obi stated this on Sunday in Toronto, Canada during a Townhall meeting with Nigerian diaspora with the theme: Impact of the diaspora to the growth and development of Nigeria.
Answering questions from the diaspora, the Presidential frontliner said that the key issue Nigeria needs to pursue aggressive is security.
He said “let no one tell you that it’s difficult to fight insecurity in Nigeria. Criminals can’t overrun a country. In South America, from Brazil to Mexico and Colombia, they have gone through what we are going through today.
” In natural security, the more you pull people out of poverty, the more you reduce criminality. Government supporting people to come out of poverty is not as difficult as we make it look. It has been done everywhere in the world. Even the amount that is being mismanaged and stolen can do that”.
Obi, who was a former Anambra State Governor said that in terms of Nigeria’s security agencies, the number of personnel are low and unequipped. He added that Nigeria with a population of 200 million has just 320, 000 police officers, out of which, 70,000 are escorts to VIPs.
“We need to start state police immediately. There is no reason why we should not have community policing. We need multi-level policing. That’s what happens in every society. I have been through it before, this one will not be different”.
On corruption, Obi said that if he becomes president, he will not look back but rather look forward. According to him, Nigeria is too huge with great talents to be stalled with the past.
He explained that everywhere that corruption exists, the leaders are involved. He stressed further that once a leader was not stealing, his family and people around him were also not stealing, such leader will reduce corruption by 70 percent.
Obi highlighted that Nigeria faces a big crisis with huge cost of governance. According to him, the cost of governance in Nigeria is unacceptable, stressing that if the prime minister of Canada comes out in the streets with a motorcade of over 30 vehicles, he will be removed from office the next day.
On gender equality, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate said one of the assets Nigeria has not utilised is investing in women. He said that investment in women yields better returns than investment in men.
Citing former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Obi said that she saw what Nigeria is currently passing through today and pleaded with the governors to support saving. According to him, had the governors listened to her, Nigeria would have been stabilised today.
