A Civil Society Organisation, the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) on Saturday said that the task of restoring peace to Nigeria remained business of every citizen.
The President of the CHSR, Mr Alex Omotehinse made this remark at the group’s Roundtable Dialogue/Conference on insecurity held at Rights House, Ikeja in Lagos.
The theme of the Roundtable Dialogue is “Insecurity Situation in Nigeria: Its Rippling Effects and Our Role as Civil Society Organisations.”
Omotehinse, who urged the government across levels to address the growing rate of unemployment, called on parents, teachers religious and traditional institutions to wake up to their responsibilities.
According to him, insecurity has been a real threat to social and economic orderliness of the nation, apart from its physical, mental, psychological and emotional danger posed to people.
“Security is everybody’s business, either as an individual, a corporate body, a community, all hands must be on deck to build a sane and a growth oriented society where peace and tranquility are critical factors.
“It is our community, it is our country, and it concerns our lives, so let’s take ownership.
“The hallmark for a secured society is that if you see something, say something, don’t shield criminals or criminality.
“Let’s all work together and make the incursion of any security threats or breaches, impracticable in our community,” Omotehinse said.
The rights activist, who decried spate of robbery, cultism, ritualism, banditry, kidnapping, killings, attacks on innocent Nigerians, called on CSOs to also play their roles.
Omotehinse, who noted that Nigeria used to be a safe place, attributed insecurity to the high rate of unemployment, corruption, money politics as well as failure of parents, religious and traditional institutions.
He urged political class to elevate rule of law and invest massively in modern technology surveillance gadgets to nib crimes in real time before being acted.
“A situation where evil acts can be perpetrated, especially in our various streets and roads, but cannot be captured in real time with surveillance gadgets, will continue to promote insecurity in our community.
“When a potential evil doer knows he or she can be captured by hidden or surveillance cameras, he will think twice before venturing into evil,” he said.
According to him, education is the greatest weapon to solve most of the problems of insecurity in our community.
He said massive investment in education would also reduce nation’s overall security expenditures.
Omotehinse urged the government to redouble efforts in engaging the youths through Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) within the community, saying it would be a game changer in tackling the problems of unemployment.
He said that traditional institutions should be at the fore front of the campaign for the restoration of peace in the country.
“The various unions and associations within the community must be involved in putting an end to security challenges being experienced.
“The Community Development Associations (CDAs) must put stringent measures in place to ensure that the landlords in their domain verify the identities of their prospective tenants.
“If need be, the Police should be involved in confirming the status of prospective tenants,” he added.
According to him, every citizen must first see themselves as an integral part of the security architecture and thus remain vigilant in the task of giving credible information of suspicious activities observed to relevant authorities.
He said that the security agents emolument must be reviewed upward with provision for insurance, and pension for all levels of officers to discourage corruption and help them to discharge their official duties diligently, without fear or favor.
All discussants harp on the need for all Nigerians to get involved in restoring security to the country.
