Delta State foremost governorship aspirant and industrialist, Chief Kenneth Gbagi has advised media practitioners not to allow blackmailers and parasites of the system to use them rather they should focus on the past human capital development capacity of such politicians to better the lives of the people and ensure national security
Chief Gbagi who spoke to Delta Online Publishers Forum(DOPF) at the weekend, Sunday, May 9, 2021 in his country home Oginibo, Ughelli South Local Government area, Delta State on the state of insecurity and politics blamed journalists for the current state of the nation because they use their platform to promote incompetent people with lack of capacity to occupy sensitive public offices, resulting to massive unemployment and poverty
He said as a lawyer and criminologist with a veritable capacity for human capital development, he had what was demanded at this moment to build on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s achievements, secure Delta state as well create massive employment for the people.
“Without security, there will be no investment. And once there is no investment, hunger will take over the land. Robbery, stealing, kidnapping will increase. Look, a lot of people who are criminals today do not plan to become criminals. Circumstances beyond their control forced them into criminality.
“It will continue and get worse. The country our fathers left behind is not the country we are today. There is need for a state of emergency in Nigeria security system. Nigeria will not be a nation if we do not change the narratives”, he added.
According to him, “The kind of government we practice before now had the interest of the nation at heart but where the interest of the nation is not what we are pursuing, the nation will die. We must go back to the drawing board. We must go back to discuss where we are and how we want to collectively get out of this mess.
“The situation has rapidly grown out of hand. Why are we paying salaries to security agents when the main purpose of their engagement has been outlived. The purpose of paying their salaries has been defeated and this calls for emergency.
“Where we are right now in this country calls for a state of emergency. Where a governor of a state cannot give instructions to subordinates security chiefs as enshrined in the constitution is a misnomer that would spill doom for this country”.
“The media must live up to it’s responsibility by demanding from our service chiefs why they are failing to protect us despite being heavily paid with tax payers money. Let us not politicise security in this country. Criminality has taken root nearly in every part of the country today yet we are failing to ask for a state of emergency?.
He regretted that State Governors are not fully empowered by Constitution to combat insecurity because the Security Agencies are not taking last order/directives from the Governors but from their bosses in Abuja.
“Nigeria as it is today is a misnomer. There is need for a state of emergency on security in Nigeria. Security personnel are supposed to take orders from state governors. But where we are now is a situation where they all take instructions from a central command. That means the governors cannot be held responsible for the wrongs with regards to security in their states.”
The governorship aspirant noted that the herders/farmers clashes had fueled the impression that cow grazing is a government business as such herders are forcing government to aid the atrocities being perpetuated by some of them, contending that “Grazing is a private business and cow rearing is not the business of Government. He maintained that the Nigeria presidency has nothing to do with grazing.
Gbagi maintained that the lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government to take appropriate action on Open Grazing is contributing to the herdsmen and farmers clashes in the country.
“How does my personal business concern government? How I sell it, how it gets from one place to another is not the business of government. That is their chosen line of business. Grazing must be treated as such.
“Cow is not the business of government, unless government wants to tell us that they have acquired all the cows in Nigeria. Some of these things have come to be because of the way we have handled them.”
Answering a question, Chief Gbagi agreed that the security agencies were not carrying out their responsibility to Nigerians because they were poorly paid “there is low morale among the security personnel” added that over 80 percent of the guns used by hoodlums were forcefully taken from the security agencies.
