Former presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Gbenga Olawepo-Hassim, has called for stronger regional collaboration and international cooperation to address insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria and across the Sahel region.
Gatekeepers News reports that Olawepo-Hassim, while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, argued that Nigeria cannot effectively tackle insecurity without working closely with its neighbouring countries.
“Now, you can’t deal with these things if you are at loggerheads with your neighbours—Mali, Niger, and Chad. You must have an integrated strategy,” he said.
According to him, any serious effort to combat terrorism and insurgency must involve countries within the region as well as global stakeholders with interests in the Sahel.
“So, the first thing I’m going to do is to have an international conference on security here, not a local conference. You need the input of our neighbours—Chad and Niger—and the cooperation of Mali and Burkina Faso,” he said.
“You need global cooperation because the Russians are dealing with this issue on behalf of Mali in the Sahel region, and you also need the French, who were part of the problem in the first place.”
Olawepo-Hassim linked the security challenges facing the region to the fallout from the Libyan crisis, arguing that extremist groups expanded across the Sahel due to inadequate post-conflict stabilisation efforts.
“All of these problems are linked with what happened in Libya and the importation of a host of extremist groups to that area, and cleanups were not done,” he stated.
“So, these guys are advising all manner of groups across the Sahel region, not just in Nigeria. So, you are dealing with a much more complicated crisis than people are able to admit.”
His remarks come amid growing concerns over insecurity in Nigeria, including the recent abduction of teachers and students in Oyo State, an incident that has triggered widespread public outrage.
The Accord Party chieftain also criticised Nigeria’s political leadership, accusing many leaders of lacking a proper understanding of national security and its implications for governance.
“The problem we have now is that even most of the political leaders don’t understand what is called national security. Because I see it in the way the government formulates policies,” he said.
Olawepo-Hassim maintained that addressing insecurity requires a comprehensive strategy that combines regional partnerships, international cooperation and sound policy decisions at home.
