The governors of Nigeria’s 36 states have accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of failing to address the security challenges that are impeding economic activity in the country.
Under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the governors stated that the rising level of poverty was a result of rampant insecurity in commercial and agricultural activities.
They also accused the federal government of allowing “bandits, insurgents, and kidnappers to turn the country into a killing field.”
The NGF made these remarks in a statement signed by AbdulRazaque Bello-Barkindo, its Director of Media and Public Affairs.
Bello-Barkindo was responding to claims made by Clement Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning.
He insisted that the governors had made significant progress in their respective states by implementing relevant projects.
“The main reason people have been unable to engage in regular agrarian activity and commerce is due to the center’s dereliction of duty.”
“Today, rural areas are insecure, markets are unsafe, travel certainty is improbable, and life for the common people is generally harsh and brutish,” Bello-Barkindo said.
He went on to say that Agba’s viewpoint, “based on a survey of 56,000 households in a country of 200 million people,” “can never diminish the good work that 36 pro-poor governors are doing for this country.”
