Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has declared that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity cannot be solved by mere firepower, warning politicians against misleading the public with promises of “carpet-bombing” bandits into submission.
Speaking on Saturday at the public presentation of Where I Stand—an Arabic translation by Sheikh Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo—Governor Sani insisted that insecurity in the Northwest requires more than bullets, stressing that poverty, joblessness, and neglect of rural communities are the real fuel behind banditry.
> “Insecurity cannot be resolved solely through the use of firearms. Whoever makes such a claim is only playing politics. We must fear God and stop deceiving the people because that approach will not work,” he declared.
The governor, who represented President Bola Tinubu as Special Guest at the Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’ah Wa ‘iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) event, drew sharp contrasts between Boko Haram’s ideology-driven insurgency in the Northeast and the economically driven banditry ravaging the Northwest.
Security Manpower Crisis
Sani lamented Nigeria’s declining security capacity despite its ballooning population.
> “After the Civil War in 1970, Nigeria had about 300,000 soldiers. Today, despite our population growing by over 100 million, we have less than 250,000 troops. How then can anyone say that guns alone will solve the problem? It is impossible,” he stressed.
He decried the alarming absence of security presence in large swathes of the Northwest:
> “If you travel through Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, or Katsina’s forests, you can go for about 50 kilometers without encountering a single policeman, let alone a soldier. Vast areas of this country remain uncovered by security personnel,” he lamented.
Governor Sani highlighted the Kaduna Peace Model, a community-led, non-kinetic approach that brings traditional rulers, religious leaders, and stakeholders together in peacebuilding efforts.
Citing Birnin Gwari as a success story, he said:
> “The Emir spearheaded peace efforts in his domain. We spent six months studying the root causes of insecurity and found poverty, unemployment, lack of schools, hospitals, and commerce as the triggers pushing people into crime.”
He warned leaders against shirking responsibility, saying:
> “We were elected by the people. It is our duty to protect them. I chose the non-kinetic approach because in the end, it is me that God will hold responsible in the hereafter.”
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