In a statement issued by the ex-military ruler and titled ‘Our Economy and our Society’s Security’, Buhari said security agencies of the (Federal) government need closer cooperation with civilian security infrastructure which is in place but seldom considered as a part of the security effort.
“The local government structure from Ward to district to state level is an excellent starting point for an over-all new security initiative. State-wide effort should be carefully coordinated with federal authorities. It should be a bottom-to-top operation. The bickering between Abuja and the states should cease if we are serious in wanting to win the war and end the conflict. All monies voted must demonstrably be seen to be spent on security,” he advised.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain analysed the country’s economy in his detailed statement and flayed the central government on various issues including poverty and unemployment, and noted that the way out of poverty is to get people to work.
“Across the length and breadth of this country and in our cities, poverty is so visible, so general and so extreme. Those numbers have no meaning to the well being of the vast majority of our society.
“For the rebased economy to affect lives of our citizens in a positive way and for the theme of the conference to have any meaning, we must take a serious look at our economic policy priorities and rebalance our policies in favour of agriculture and manufacturing to take people out of poverty and make them consumers for the expansion of the productive private sector and manufacturing, in addition to creating jobs for millions of young unemployed and create opportunities for the millions entering job market every year.”
Buhari called on government to take a second look at agricultural support. To him, “Current efforts on large scale farming are laudable, but it is the small scale farmer across the country who needs support to improve his yield and get out of poverty.
Source: Thisday
