Nigerians have been tasked to support the government by making more sacrifices to end the insecurity in the country.
The Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, PGF, Mr. Salihu Lukman who said this in a press statement explained that one of the issue worsening Nigeria’s insecurity in insufficient funds to recruit and equip security personnel.
He noted that if Nigerians paid their tax, it would significantly contribute to funds needed to address insecurity in the country.
“Part of the problem of responding to national challenges in the country, is the false mindset that government has all the resources required. Such mindset is responsible for why in most cases public conversations hardly acknowledges costs of initiatives.
“As things are today, only workers in public and private sectors pay taxes. Businesses and private citizens are mostly defaulters. Largely because of endemic culture of default in payment of taxes by citizens, Nigerians have gradually taken over government responsibilities. Instead of paying tax to government and expect government to provide security, Nigerians recruit personal security guards for homes and businesses.
“How much sacrifices Nigerians at all levels are ready to make will determine how quickly government can succeed?Unless and until Nigerians come to terms with the reality that financing government initiatives is the collective responsibility of all citizens, capacity of government to implement initiatives that can meet the expectations of citizens will remain weak. The whole debate around reforming the Nigerian police for instance such that whether community or state policing can support the recruitment of more police personnel is practically about how much resources can be mobilised to sustainably manage the operations of the police force. Currently, the total number of police personnel in the country is less than 400,000” Lukman said.
The PGF DG further called on the governing All Progressives Congress, APC to focus debates on how to end insecurity and revive Nigeria’s economy as the party plans for it’s National Convention to hold in February 2022.
“As a party preparing for its National Convention in February 2022, we must appeal to APC leaders to include debate about what needs to be done by all APC government to mobilise the support of Nigerians to bring to an immediate end the current national security challenge in the country. Recommendations that emerge from the Convention should guide the process of reviewing the APC’s manifesto. Unlike other parties, including the PDP, APC must continue to set the needed political agenda to drive the process of mobilising Nigerians for change” he said.
Mr. Lukman added that Nigerian politics needs to be focused on addressing National challenges such as insecurity.
He advised Nigerians to ensure that partisan choices in the forthcoming 2023 General Election come with important agreements to guarantee the right initiatives from government to address all security challenges.
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