BY DAVID ADUGE-ANI, ABUJA
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have identified poverty, bad governance and poor education as major factors breeding insecurity in the country.
Speaking at a public debate organised by West Africa Democracy Radio, with the theme, “Security in the Sahel: Effects, challenges, strategies, and the way forward”, the civil society organisations stressed the need for serious leadership.
Most of the speakers noted that poverty, bad governance and poor education are the major factors breeding insecurity and could only be tackled by strong commitment and cooperation among member states.
In his presentation, the country director Equal Access International, Nigeria, Dr Maji Peters said leaders must identify what the people really need and sincerely work to meet up the demands.
According to him, structures should be well activated to tackle security challenges, linking most of the laspes to failure of institutions.
Also speaking , the founder and executive director, Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative, Mrs. Kemi Okenyodo, said there should be unity and common goals in the pursuit of masses good.
Okenyodo stated that the activities of CSOs should be for the good of people and not only for their personal interest, while discussions should always be centred on achieving and sustaining good democracy in the Sahel region.
Emmanuel Ojukwu, former Commissioner of Police asked those in leadership position to provide jobs, “If people are jobless, they can go to any length to cause trouble because they don’t have anything doing”