Tackling poverty will end Boko Haram, says Gov Shettima
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State yesterday said tackling issues of poverty and unemployment would help end the Boko Haram violence in the North-East.
Shettima said the insurgency was a result of “extreme poverty,” unemployment and idleness among youths in the region.
He said this while speaking at the 11th Daily Trust Annual Dialogue in Abuja yesterday.
Shettima said the sect’s violence is not a new thing, as such trouble first erupted in the 1980s with the Maitatsine violence.
“The issue of Boko Haram; it’s not a new thing. It started way back in the 1980s. The major cause is extreme poverty. Our youths are there without anything doing; once you create jobs, once you improve on the quality of governance, believe me, this madness will evaporate,” he said.
The governor also reminded Nigerian leaders that power is transient, and as such, they must ensure justice to the people so that posterity would judge them right.
Dwelling on the topic of the dialogue, Shettima said culture of impunity in the Nigerian system is becoming increasingly baffling.
“The issue of incumbency and impunity baffles me, because sometimes I feel as if I am out of this world,” he said.
He said what Nigerians need at this time is good governance from their leaders and not using public offices to encourage impunity, which would not augur well for the country’s future.
“We must improve the lives of the people through good governance; that is all that Nigerians need at this time,” he said.
Shettima said as Nigeria’s population keeps growing exponentially in millions, the country is likely to become more populated than the United States, which is why leaders of today must take steps towards the future.
He said most of Nigeria’s public officers are doing a great disservice to the country by enrolling their children into private schools.
“I always call a spade by its name; that is why sometimes I prefer not to talk. Most of us here have our kids in private schools,” he said.