A support group of All Progressives Congress has thrown its weight behind the recommendation of the former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Yerima, that President Bola Tinubu should adopt dialogue in dealing with bandits and insurgents.
The appeal was made by the national coordinator of the Progressive League of Youth Voters, Abdul Shuaibu, on Thursday during the investiture of patrons in Abuja.
“Former President Muhammadu Buhari has done his best in the fight against banditry and terrorism. But it has not yielded any positive results.
“This is why I think it is necessary for us to try another option. So we urge President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to please sit down and see if dialogue can be adopted for peace to reign in Nigeria,” Shuaibu said.
Three days before Shuaibu’s offer, Yerima faced criticism for recommending the Federal Government to pardon the bandits terrorizing the states in the North-West zone.
Yerima, according to The Spectator, paid President Tinubu a visit on Monday in Abuja and encouraged him to deal with “repentant” criminals and think about pardoning them in the same way that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua pardoned the militants in the Niger Delta.
Shortly after his visit to the White House, the former deputy senate minority leader revealed it to reporters at the State House.
However, the Progressive League of Youth Voters coordinator could not find anything wrong with the suggestion.
“We are in support of any motion that will restore peace in the North. There must be a dialogue before combating security issues head-on in Nigeria.
“We must agree to dialogue with these bandits to find what they actually want and why they are terrorizing Nigerians. It is only when dialogue fails that we should know the step to take.
“The prevailing state of national security in Nigeria is also worrisome. The receding Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east, from what we have seen, is being substituted by banditry and terrorism in the North-West, the North-Central is facing the deadly farmer-herder crisis, the South-East is enmeshed in separatist violence and associated criminal opportunism. There is an upsurge in gang and ritual activities in the South-West while the South-South is afflicted with militancy, piracy and oil theft. The president should get a grip on these serious security threats,” he urged.
The group urged the president to take immediate action to address Nigerians’ rising cost of living in line with his “renewed hope” manifesto, noting that the recent removal of gasoline subsidies was a brave move in the right direction.
The young people argued that it should be a top priority to nominate young Nigerians to Tinubu’s cabinet.
“President Tinubu has left no one in doubt that he has a very good record of grooming and including youths in governance. Therefore, we expect him to continue in that line, most especially, in his subsequent appointment of ministers, heads of departments, agencies, and board members of federal institutions,” he said.
