Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said that poverty, unemployment, poor schools and inadequate healthcare in rural areas are the main drivers of insecurity in northern Nigeria, not a lack of weapons.
Speaking at the public launch of Where I Stand, a book by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, translated into Arabic by Sheikh Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo, Governor Sani, who represented President Bola Tinubu as Special Guest of Honour, urged leaders to take responsibility instead of deceiving citizens.
“Insecurity cannot be solved by guns alone,” he said. “Anyone making such claims is only playing politics.”
He noted that the country’s security manpower has shrunk despite its rising population.
“In 1970, after the civil war, we had about 300,000 soldiers. Today, we have fewer than 250,000, yet our population has grown by over 100 million. How then can firearms alone solve this problem?”
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Governor Sani lamented the absence of security presence in many rural areas.
“If you travel through Zamfara, Birnin Gwari or the forests of Katsina, you can go 50 kilometres without seeing a single policeman, let alone a soldier,” he said.
He pointed to Kaduna’s peace model, which emphasises dialogue with communities, traditional rulers and religious leaders, as a more sustainable approach.
He cited Birnin Gwari, where the Emir led peace efforts, saying it took six months to understand the causes of violence.
“We must stop deceiving our people by blaming only the President or the National Security Adviser,” he stressed.
“We were elected by the people, and it is our duty to protect them. God will hold us accountable for failing in this responsibility.”