A member of the Benue State House of Assembly, Isaac Ochekliye Agbo, has blamed state governors for the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.
He accused state governors of starving local governments of the funds needed to tackle security challenges at the grassroots.
Speaking at a security summit held during the weekend at the Deputy Governor’s office in Makurdi, Agbo, who represents Ohimini State Constituency and chairs the House Committee on Rural Development, declared that “governors are the problem,” criticising their tight grip on local government finances.
“These governors get a lot of money, which does not trickle down to the local government areas. Governors are the problem. Let us tell ourselves the truth,”; Agbo said.
He argued that local governments, which are closest to the people, are deliberately weakened, leaving communities vulnerable to criminal attacks.
Agbo also called out the military, urging them to rise to the challenge. “If what we are facing is a conventional war, let us confront it. The military needs to wake up and defend our communities,”; he added.
Other speakers at the summit echoed similar concerns. Lazarus Mom, a security consultant with the NGO Lawyers Alert, emphasised the importance of community policing, citing successful examples in Guma and Katsina-Ala local government areas where security committees have helped curb crime.
In a similar vein, Terwase Uche, the representative for Guma 1 Constituency, criticised the mismanagement of security funds, noting that despite the billions allocated for security, basic equipment like vehicles for local government chairmen are still lacking.
“We are not seeing the Hilux and motorbikes that the governor launched. Local government chairmen do not even have vehicles to function. This is a huge joke and caricature of governance,”; Uche fumed.
