TheCable

Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, says Nigeria’s security challenges are threatening the country’s existence. 

He said if the prevalent insecurity persists, it will spell “great danger” for Africa and the rest of the world.

Gbajabiamila spoke on Wednesday while delivering a paper at the School of Oriental Studies, London.

The speaker, however, said the federal government has activated measures to curb crime in the country by increasing funding for the military and police.

“The most pressing of these challenges today is the national security crisis that threatens the foundations of our nationhood and portends great danger for Africa and the world if it persists,” he said in a statement issued by Lanre Lasisi, his special adviser on media and publicity.

“First, to address present challenges and then to build resilient institutions that can withstand uncertainty in troubled times, more than anything else, our focus must remain on the young and vibrant youth of Nigeria and Africa who have so much to offer the world and who have proven that they can thrive under challenging circumstances given half a chance.

“However we cannot do this for as long as our present national security challenges persist. The government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has responded to the reality of our present challenges by increasing funding provisions for the police and armed forces, accelerating recruitment and training to put more boots on the ground and also acquiring weapons systems designed to give the security agencies an advantage.

“The scope of our challenges was evident, matched only by our confidence that we would do what was required to overcome those difficulties and deliver the dividends of democracy for our people.”

Gbajabiamila said the house of representatives will continue to make laws “for positive change, for righting wrongs and establishing new protocols better suited to the reality of the times than whatever existed before”.

“For me and the house, we understood that the best dividend of democracy is a just society, where individual rights are recognised and respected. Where citizens have the freedom to dream big dreams and the social resources and infrastructure to achieve those dreams,” he added.