Current insecurity worse than during my govt – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the country needs to do something urgently on insecurity which, he said, has taken over some parts of the nation.

Obasanjo stated this in Bauchi State, on Sunday, where he inaugurated road projects constructed by Governor Bala Mohammed.

He said insecurity in Nigeria today is worse compared to his time in office when he prioritised the security of lives and property across the country.

The former president insisted on community policing, where members of communities know their neighbours, adding that this was crucial to easily identify and address security threats within communities.

Speaking at the palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleiman-Adamu, Obasanjo stressed the importance of community policing in addressing the rising insecurity in the country.

He said the current state of insecurity in Nigeria needed immediate action to address the situation.

“The best form of security is community policing because everyone knows his/her neighbours within the community. With that, it is very easy to identify the bad eggs.

“The situation of insecurity in Nigeria today is so bad, unlike during our terms in office when we prioritise the security of lives and properties across the country. We need to do something urgently about this.”

He urged traditional rulers to encourage community policing in their communities to reduce the spate of crimes.

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“During our service to the nation, we did everything collectively, our decisions were taken together to have a uniform focus.

“My brother, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, is seated here, and he will bear me witness. Whatever we achieved then was a collective effort.

“We need peace, unity, and collective support in this country if we must move forward. Things can be right and good again in the country, all we need to do is to get united and do things collectively,” he noted.

The former President equally disclosed the donation of hearing aids to 2,000 people with hearing difficulties in Bauchi.

He explained that many people suffered deafness unknowingly until medical checks revealed to them their hearing capacity.

Obasanjo narrated how he discovered being partially deaf when he was abroad and could not hear clearly while someone was talking to him.

He had insisted nothing was wrong with his ears when the man asked for his permission to check on his ears.

He stated that after the result came out, it was revealed that he was 25 per cent deaf.

“After my result came out, I had to ask the man to also check on my Chief Security Officer then, but shockingly, he was more deaf than I was,” he said.

He said the experience informed the establishment of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, where thousands of Nigerians had benefited from its ear treatments and provision of hearing aids.

He noted that he would kick off the distribution of hearing aids to over 10,000 indigent people in the North-East, starting from Bauchi State, where 2,000 people would benefit.

Obasanjo expressed the belief that African countries were not created by God to be poor, adding that their poverty resulted from bad leadership.

Speaking on the inaugurated road, the governor said his blueprint, which included the roads, was designed even before he was returned elected as governor of the state.

“I instructed them to develop a road map for the project that will serve our people regardless of the outcome of the election.

“I believe that leadership is not about personal ambition but about collective progress and well-being of our people.

“The project we are inaugurating today is part of our larger ambition for the state,” he said.

Mohammed said his administration prioritised the construction and rehabilitation of roads in the state to aid development.

“As of today, we have undertaken the construction of 116 road projects, totalling 1,482.25km across Bauchi State.

“The roads we are commissioning today have significant milestones in our journey to build a new Bauchi.

“They are 7km dualisation of Awala-Maiduguri road, dualisation of 17.7km Kano road to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi, 30KM Gubi Gari, Ruda Bida, Siyi to Nasarawa road connecting two local government areas of Bauchi and Ganjuwa,” he said.