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| Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN |
All
three issues are closely linked, of course. Without guaranteeing
security, we will struggle to attract the kind of investments, domestic
or foreign, needed to create jobs and prosperity for our people. And
when those jobs are hard to find and keep, our people will naturally be
more susceptible to the lure of criminal activity. Which means that
governments that are serious about fighting crime ought to be extremely
serious about fighting poverty.
And
I take the point that the Chairman of the Governors’ forum made about
investments in agriculture, although the N23 billion investment is one
aspect of agriculture which is the Anchor Borrower’s Programme. Our
total investment is well over five times that. If you look at all the
other areas in which we are investing in agriculture, and that excludes
what the States are also investing in agriculture. So I think that
substantial effort is being made, still not enough but certainly more
than N23 billion.
Corruption
and Security are also interconnected. We are all witnesses to how, only
a few years ago, much of North Eastern Nigeria was at risk to falling
completely into the hands of Boko Haram, largely because widespread
corruption in the military had robbed our troops of the resources and
morale needed to fight and defeat the terrorists.
Regarding
this all-important issue of security in Nigeria, we all know what the
issues are. In our lives as politicians and as elites; in our security
meetings and confidential briefings, in news reports and editorials in
the media, we are all daily confronted by the disturbing reality of
Nigeria’s security situation.
Now
I think is the time to implement our thinking and our talking; to add
action to our analysis. And this action must be bold, ambitious, urgent –
and, and very importantly – innovative. It was Albert Einstein who
said, and I quote, that “We cannot solve our problems with the same
level of thinking that created the problems in the first place.”
This
is a challenge to all of us, to confront these matters with utmost
seriousness. Because the problems we face as a nation are not static,
but instead continue to evolve, our thinking and our solutions for them
must also be equally dynamic, to take into account the peculiar
realities of the 21st century. I have spoken at a number of recent fora
about how technology and the internet have altered the nature of
conflict and war in contemporary times, enabling and amplifying the
efforts and impact of terrorists, insurgents, warmongers, secessionists,
and peddlers of hate speech.
Against
this backdrop, the question we should be asking ourselves, as
Governments, especially as Chief Security Officers in our States, as Law
Enforcement Agents, is: how can we take advantage of these same tools
and technology to stay permanently ahead of those who seek to wield them
to create mischief, and cause terror, fear and bloodshed?
These
are the conversations that we should be having, and at the highest
levels of government no less. My expectation is that we will, at this
forum, focus on solutions, instead of rehashing the problems.
But
let me just reiterate an important fact, one of the reasons why the
National Economic Council is so important is because the framers of our
Constitution recognise that that the Federal Government alone cannot
solve Nigeria's security or economic challenges. Security is a
collective enterprise, requiring the harmonization of efforts from all
three tiers and branches of Government, and from the private sector,
civil society and indeed the general public as well.
Yesterday,
we took an important step in incorporating all of our society into this
security issue and into the fight against insecurity in our country.
Pursuant to our Constitution, I issued a directive to the Inspector
General of Police to constitute the Community Policing Programme. As you
know the Community Policing Programme is one that the Police itself had
developed over the years.
But
by this directive, we expect that the community Policing Programme will
take root and take effect and all of our Police formations across the
country will engage their communities in the very creative ways the
Police themselves have prescribed in the Community Policing programme.
We
expect that this will be a fundamental change in the way that policing
is carried out in our country and that it will yield the kinds of
results that we expect.
The
Buhari administration has already set a pattern of engagement and
collaboration with Governors, and we are committed to maintaining this
atmosphere of frank engagement.
You
are aware that this was not always the case; and prior to this
administration, the National Economic Council had not exactly fulfilled
its obligations as an economic council because of the unending series of
conflicts between the Federal and State Governments over very many
issues.
But we are determined to do things the right way, to be transparent in
our dealings with you, to respect your views, regardless of partisan or
ideological affiliations, and to join hands with you to create positive
change in the lives of all our people.
Please
permit me a comment on hate speech. The Federal Government has today
drawn the line on hate speech. Hate speech is a specie of terrorism.
Terrorism as it is defined popularly is the unlawful use of violence or
intimidation against individuals or groups especially for political
ends. The law, that is the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended),
defines terrorism as inter Alia, an act which deliberately done with
malice which may seriously harm or damage a country or seriously
intimidate a population.
The
intimidation of a population by words, by speech is an act of terrorism
and this government intends to take this matter very seriously. As I
have said, we’ve drawn a line against hate speech, it will not be
tolerated, it will be taken as an act of terrorism and all of the
consequences will follow it.
I
call on all business, religious and political leaders, whatever your
political leaning, your religion or tribe or faith to condemn in the
strongest possible terms at all times, hate speech.
Speech
that promotes violence against an individual or group, especially when
such comes from people of your own faith, tribe or group, your silence
in such situations can only be seen as an endorsement.
Hate
speech, and the promotion of the same throughout history from Nazi
Germany and the extermination of Jews to the Rwandan genocide succeeded
in achieving their barbarous ends by the silence of influential, voices
from the aggressor communities.
When
leaders in communities that speak in such a manner as to create
dissension or to intimidate a population are quiet, they do a great
disservice to our unity and nation.
This
is why I urge all of our political leaders, religious leaders, business
leaders and all of those who truly want a united country and a country
where there will be peace and security, to ensure that we do not
tolerate by our silence the hate speech that we hear every day in our
community.
In
closing, let me remind you that our Constitution states that the
primary purpose of government shall be the security and welfare of the
people. And as President Buhari likes to say: “you cannot administer a
country you have not secured.”
We
will not relent in our vision to ensure a secure country, in which all
citizens can confidently aspire to achieve their dreams and ambitions. I
am confident that today will mark an important milestone in the
achieving that vision.
I thank you very much for listening.
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| Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN |
OSINBAJO DID NOT DESCRIBE THOSE ASKING FOR RESTRUCTURING AS POLITICAL JOBBERS
Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has expressed surprise at the news report
quoting Chief Ayo Adebanjo as saying he described those agitating for
restructuring as political jobbers.
At no time did the Acting President say that those asking for restructuring were political jobbers looking for appointments.
The video, audio tapes and full text of his speech at the National
Security summit organised last week by the Department of State Services,
DSS are publicly available.
While
several newspapers and media outlets reported Prof. Osinbajo’s said
speech last Wednesday, not one of the publications made such a blatantly
inaccurate claim that he said those asking for restructuring were
political jobbers.
Besides,
the debate on restructuring is an important one and the calls for
restructuring cover a wide range of legitimate and constitutionally
valid issues. Indeed all Nigerians have both a right and a duty to
advance their arguments on the subject.
The
Acting President himself have expressed support for State police based
on the community policing model, advocated for devolution of powers to
the States and fiscal federalism. Besides, the Buhari administration has
been active in supporting State rights in several ways including in
fiscal matters and will continue to do so
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