Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma has said that all hands must be on deck in order to restore peace in Imo state and the country.
Governor Uzodimma said this while briefing State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
According to him, oppositions must drop blame games and join hands in restoring peace in the country as it is in trying times.
He said: “It is not only in Imo State, I didn’t limit it to Imo State. I am saying that cases of insecurity here and there in the country have not been helped by the posture of opposition party and some aggrieved politicians, the reason being that at a time like this in Nigeria, anybody worth his onions as a leader should be able to speak out.
“How many of them are speaking out? How many of them are condemning what is going on? Rather, what you see are leaders fanning the embers of insecurity, blaming only government. We must be tired of this blame thing by now and then contribute our own quota towards ensuring that national security is not threatened in the country.
“So, it is not something for politics. It’s something that if you are a former Senate President and you are a former speaker, or a former deputy senate president, or a former deputy speaker and things like this are happening in the country and you are not able to speak out and we’re not seeing you where you are engaging in addressing the young men and women in your area on the need for a united Nigeria and this is a country that has given you opportunity to serve at that level one time or the other, then it is either overtly or covertly, you have a question to answer.
In light of the destruction of federal government properties, he expressed that the nation’s interest comes first before sentiments and emotions, adding that perpetrators must face the consequences of their actions.
“At this point, we’re not dealing with feelings alone; we must tie feelings to national interests. It’s not about sentimental feelings, it’s about knowing that this is a federal government asset and you woke up willingly and deliberately go there to destroy, what you are trying to destroy is the sovereignty of the country and we shouldn’t encourage that.
“Whatever government has taken as a position…, I think there are two things; it’s either you respect government and not destroy government assets, or you destroy government assets and face the consequences. Those are the two things.”
He asserted that he alone cannot guarantee security in his state, as it is the collective responsibility of everyone including religious and political leaders, traditional rulers, young and old to restore peace in the state.
He enjoined leaders to fight alongside the federal government to ensure that peace and normalcy are restored in all parts of the country, stating that the country belongs to everyone, therefore, responsibility must be shared.
“So, let us not pretend as if all is well, all is not well, leaders must rise to ensure that they work hand in hand with government to ensure their security in the country.
“Have you seen a situation where people will wake up and take buses to school and then load 200 students, you can imagine how many buses that will take 200 students and drive them away to somewhere and they will be asking for ransom, what type of society is that?
“This is not the society we used to know. We should all be worried and not only be worried, or to sit down and begin to blame government or blame, Mr. President, we should all get involved.
“In Imo State as I speak to you, only me cannot restore security, only me cannot guarantee security. I have to work with traditional rulers, I have to work with opinion leaders, I have to work with the youth leaders, to be able to deploy community kind of security programme, to be able to resist what is going on today.
“You have heard how people will come from outside the state in the name of unknown gunmen. I don’t know when we will begin to know these people and they will commit atrocities, and they will now flee.
“So, these are the things. I want to use this opportunity to invite all leaders; religious leaders, political leaders, community leaders, traditional institutions, to join hands, because the only country we have is this Nigeria, we don’t have another country and if we’re not united we will achieve nothing.”
