Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja
The senator epresenting Kogi West Senatorial District, Smart Adeyemi at the weekend urged the federal government to construct wall across Nigerian borders in its quest to tackle the security challenges confronting the country.
Adeyemi canvassed the position in response to the inauguration of Senate ad-hoc Committee on Security set up to look into the precarious security situations the country in Lokoja.
Justifying the call for border wall, Adeyemi said armed insurgencies had overwhelmed the current conventional method of combating them, saying there was the need for Nigeria to think outside the box in providing a solution.
He said erecting wall across the borders would not only give quality assurance on securing Nigeria, but also generate income for Nigeria as well as give room for more employment opportunity.
He explained that the insecurity in Nigeria “is beyond the old conventional method of combating insecurity. We must start thinking outside the box. Nigeria must have a master plan towards building walls across the country’s border.
“Foremost, Nigeria has nothing to lose in building the wall. We are not going to import water or sand or cement or coal to do it. We also have the Ajaokuta Steel that President Muhammadu Buhari is making frantic efforts to revamp.
“We have all the resources needed for the project in goods and commercial quantity. Building the wall will give room to more income for the country and generate massive employment when you consider the numbers of soldiers, police and other security personnel that will be drafted to mount those walls,” the senator said.
He added that those perpetrating killings and causing insecurity in the country “are not majorly Nigerians, but illegal immigrants; drew historical and biblical allusion to buttress his point.
“In time past, all the old empires have wall across their borders – the Kano empire, Oyo Empire, Zaria Empire or Benin empire all erected walls. Let us not forget that even the Bible recorded Jericho wall, and history also spoke about the Berlin wall; all these are for security purposes.
“We may not complete building a wall across our borders in one, two or three years, but the time is ripe for the country to consider a Master plan towards building the wall.
“Every efforts channelled towards fighting insecurity will continue to be a mirage if we failed to safeguard our borders properly,” Adeyemi said.
