Bauchi Gov Blames Bad Governance, Clueless Leadership For Insecurity

• As NIPR holds citizens’ summit on national integration, peace, security

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has blamed bad governance and clueless leadership for the mounting security challenges in the country.

He said the current spate of insecurity nationwide would have been effectively addressed with good governance and visionary leadership as the panacea for peace and security in any thriving society.

Declaring open a Citizens’ summit on National Integration, Peace, and Security organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Bauchi State chapter, at the ML Audi Auditorium, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Governor Bala said peace and security are requirements for harmonious co-existence among the people as well as the basic ingredient for national integration.

He said; “The convening of the Peace Summit for National Integration, Peace and Security by NIPR cannot have come at a better time than now as there is a need to examine and interrogate the threats to the existence of our great country as a united indivisible entity.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Barrister Ibrahim Kashim, the governor said; “The unity in diversity that used to characterize peaceful coexistence among the people of the country in the good old days must be restored. It is my hope that this forum would provide credible and sustainable solutions to the challenges that are facing the unity, progress, and development of our country”

Governor Bala further said; “For a country like Nigeria that is characterized by ethnic and religious heterogeneity to develop, there must be a deliberate and concerted effort by the government to engender peaceful coexistence amongst the various groups in Nigeria.”

He pledged the continued partnership between the state government and NIPR, noting that the Institute is a professional image-making organization with a reputation-building manager for the promotion of the laudable achievements of his administration.

In his keynote address, NIPR President and Chairman of the Council, Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo said good communication is key in resolving national issues that must be employed if peace is to be sustained in the country.

According to him, the Institute decided to host the Citizens’ Summit in order to do the needful on the nature of relationship and understanding among diverse groups in the country towards fostering mutual understanding, adding; “As relations builder, NIPR has all the necessary skills to bring back the old days mechanism of resolving issues by talking about current issues with a view to finding out how to solve them and that is why we came up with the idea of the citizens’ summit so that our people can once again come together and utilize the opportunity positively for the benefit of all.

“In public relations, we speak as it is so that we can really understand the situation. You will agree with me that the relationship of our people in this country, instead of becoming stronger, we are seeing a negative perception, but we believe that diversity is a positive phenomenon and therefore, we must harness it for collective development,” he said

The NIPR boss said with good understanding, Nigeria can harness its resources for the benefit of the citizens, stressing the need for all hands to be on deck towards building a progressive society for a better tomorrow.

“Instead of building a progressive society, we are always thinking like yesterday. It is for our interest that we should be thinking towards better days. If we think that our yesterdays are always better than our today, then we cannot build a progressive society that way.

“The duty of every generation is to ensure a better society than the one inherited. It is time to lay a foundation of ensuring that we can build a progressive society for better Nigeria”, he said

In his intervention, the Chairman of the occasion, Ambassador Jibrin Dada Chinade, praised the NIPR for hosting the Citizens summit on National issues, adding that the cardinal responsibilities of the Institute include the convergence of professionals working with the government, analysing trends, and predicting their consequences, and counseling leaders on how best to implement planned programmes of action for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Ambassador Chinade said; “I want to use this platform to appeal to governments at states and federal levels to attach a premium to the outcome of this Summit because the NIPR is a professional tailor whose only interest is to stitch together the pieces of national integration, peace, and security for national rebirth.”