Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has identified poverty, unemployment and a lack of essential services in rural areas as the primary drivers of insecurity in Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at a public event in Kaduna, Sani emphasised that leaders must take responsibility for addressing these root causes and cautioned against politicising the issue of banditry.
Sani, who was representing President Bola Tinubu at the book presentation of “Where I Stand” by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi on Saturday, argued that solely relying on military force to combat insecurity is an illusion.
He distinguished the banditry in the North-West from the ideologically motivated Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, stating that the former is a direct result of socio-economic neglect.
The governor pointed out the discrepancy between Nigeria’s growing population and its shrinking security forces, noting that with a population increase of over 100 million since 1970, the number of soldiers has decreased.
This, combined with the significant security presence gaps in rural areas of the North-West, makes a kinetic-only approach unfeasible.
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Sani advocated for a non-kinetic approach, referencing the “Kaduna Peace Model” as a successful example. This model, he explained, was developed by affected communities in collaboration with traditional and religious leaders.
He cited the case of Birnin Gwari, where the Emir led a six-month effort to understand the root causes of insecurity, which were found to be decades of neglect and the absence of basic amenities.
He further stressed that state and local leaders should not rely on the federal government to solve their security problems.
“We were elected by the people, and it is our duty to do everything possible to protect our people,” he said, adding that he chose the non-kinetic approach out of a sense of personal responsibility.
