North Central Security Summit Must Not Be Another Talk Shop, Sule Tells Stakeholders

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of the North Central Security Summit, declaring that the meeting must not end as another jamboree of speeches.

Sule, who is chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum, insisted the summit billed for Makurdi, Benue State, on 31st August must produce means of fund, implementable action plan to crush banditry, kidnapping and communal clashes in the zone.

The governor spoke yesterday at the Government House, Lafia, when he received a delegation from the Presidency and the Ministry of Defence led by Dr Abiodun Essiet, senior special assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North Central), and Mr Bankole Olusonya, special assistant to the Minister of Defence.

“You have my buy-in as far as security is concerned in this region. I will personally attend the event in Makurdi,” Sule said, but “Let us not draw a bogus programme at the end of the day and not be implemented because nobody is funding it.”

The governor, who just met with military Generals over new brigade formations approved for Nasarawa, said the time for rhetoric was over.

He charged the organisers to ensure that invitations to his colleagues come from the Presidency, the Defence Ministry and his office to guarantee full attendance, and directed that each state delegation must include traditional rulers, community leaders, security advisers, youth leaders and vigilante commanders.
Sule said a regional approach was no longer optional, lamenting that Nasarawa’s porous borders with Benue, Plateau and Kaduna have become escape routes for criminals.

“Our borders are so porous because of the ethnic nationalities that are from both states. Whoever commits a crime in one State often finds refuge in another,” he said.

The governor also raised the economic stakes, warning that insecurity could kill the $250m lithium processing plant in the State, the largest in the country.

According to him, foreign investors have already raised their concerns with President Tinubu.

“They do not want these investments to be challenged in any way whatsoever,” he said, adding that without security, the massive investments will go to waste.

Earlier, Essiet said the summit, to be chaired by the Vice-President, is dear to President Tinubu and is one of the most anticipated security engagements in the country.

She disclosed that findings from a survey conducted across 121 local government areas in the North Central would shape deliberations, and that an Early Warning and Early Response Network would be launched.

On his part, Olusonya, who said the summit followed a similar parley in the South-East, appealed to Sule to rally his colleagues for full participation.

“Security is actually local and is also a whole-of-society approach. The outcome of the summit could culminate in governors in the region signing a formal way forward,” he said.