Insecurity: Nigeria Harvesting Its Sown Seeds — Bishop Kukah

• Obasanjo tasks Rotary Club with helping less-privileged, impacting society

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, says the rate of banditry will continue to grow across the country because Nigeria is reaping what it sowed

Following incessant attacks by bandits and terrorists across the country, most especially in the North, Bishop Kukah also warned that if the government fails to prioritise the education of Nigerian youths, the situation may get worse in the future.

The Catholic Bishop, who delivered a lecture at the 42nd Actualisation conference of Rotary International, District 9110 in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital on Friday, maintained that the government’s inability to prioritize education for the younger generation was largely responsible for insurgency and worrying level of criminality being witnessed in the country today

Specifically, he said Nigeria is facing rising security challenges, particularly in terms of banditry and terrorism attacks, due to the government’s lack of investment and the consequences of the young generation not having a proper education.

“We are facing the challenges that are the consequences of our children not having education. Now everybody is fearing bandits, everybody is fearing Boko Haram, we are reaping today what we sowed yesterday and it will actually grow worse.

“We have millions of children, at least between 10 and 12 or 15 million children that are on the streets who are begging, each of these children are growing by the day, the Almajiri that is 10 now, in 10 years time he will be 20 years, so unless we quickly do something the situation may go worse.”

Urging philanthropists, religious bodies, and other humanitarian organisations to channel their efforts toward combating illiteracy in the country, the Clergy said Nigeria “must try to combat illiteracy because there is no substitute for education and if we who are educated believe that we are secured then we must think again.”

In his goodwill message to the occasion, former President Olusegun Obasanjo charged the Rotary Club to redouble their efforts in creating a better world.

Speaking through a pre-recorded video, Obasanjo tasked the club to continue putting service to humanity above every other thing, even as he urged participants to use the opportunity of the conference to reignite the passion for helping the less privileged and positively impacting society.

For the District Governor, Ifeyinwa Ejezie, under her watch, the Rotary Club has invested hugely in areas such as basic education and literacy, maternal and child health as well as economic empowerment, adding that the District has taken the issue of mental health to another level by educating a lot of people.

She also said the disturbing trend of drug abuse among the youths is equally being addressed by the Rotary Club and reiterated its commitment to humanitarian activities within the district and across the world.

The four-day conference attracted thousands of Rotarians from Lagos and Abeokuta.