Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has urged the federal government to grant licences to responsible Nigerians to carry sophisticated weapons such as AK47 in order to protect themselves and other innocent and helpless Nigerians.
In a paper titled ‘Insecurity and Governance Challenges in the New Normal’, he presented on Tuesday during the virtual meeting convened by Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) in collaboration with Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Ortom said the policy should be backed by a strict legal framework to prevent illegal arms possession.
The governor noted that governments at all levels must come to terms with the reality that insecurity is a serious threat to the development of the country and device stringent measures to tackle the menace.
Channels Television reports that the governor also recommended adequate funding of security agencies and continuous training of their personnel to enable them to be abreast of global dynamics in the fight against insecurity.
He also urged the federal government to embrace ranching as it is the global best practice of animal husbandry and to enact a law to end open grazing which often comes with attacks on farming communities by armed herdsmen militia.
Governor Ortom also called for improved educational standards and enhanced public enlightenment campaigns to give the people, particularly youths the needed orientation to shun negative acts and become more patriotic.
The governor also stressed the need for the repositioning of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency through training, funding, and logistics to successfully confront drug barons and peddlers; a move he said would stop illegal drugs from entering and circulating in the country.
He also suggested that the embargo on employment be lifted and more job opportunities created to take off Nigerian youths from the streets.
Furthermore, the governor called for greater commitment to developing the agricultural value chain to generate more job opportunities for Nigerians.
He said that Benue has made significant contributions to national development, pointing out that as the food basket of the nation, if the state is threatened by insecurity, the negative impact would be on the entire country.