Agwai: Right Leadership Key to Tackling Insecurity in Nigeria

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Chairman of the Middle Belt Brain Trust (MBBT) and former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd), has observed that the number of internal crises being experienced in several countries globally has exceeded the number of conflicts of external aggressions.

He said this has made it imperative for the right leadership to be placed at various units of government in order to prevent such crises before they get out of hand.

Agwai, who spoke at a two-day conflict sensitivity training for local government chairman and top LG officials, which held in Pankshin, Plateau State, said leadership plays a key role in attaining peaceful coexistence in communities.

The general, who identified some of the causes of conflicts blamed the tendency by people to copy what they see on social media.

“The world has become a global village. People can view developments from everywhere through the social media and this has come with its challenges,” adding that one of the challenges of the social media on security is the copycat syndrome, where he said people tend to copy what they see happening in other climes.

He recalled that when he was Chief of Army Staff and was in the process of transforming the Nigerian army, he noticed the changing nature of violent conflicts in other parts of the world, where people tie explosives on themselves and detonated them to exert damage on others.

“But people said it cannot happen in Nigeria as Nigerians love themselves so much, but shortly after, it started happening in Nigeria,” he stated.

Agwai said internal distress has become so alarming and not restricted to developing countries as even developed countries like the US had to battle with it.

“Before, the concentration is to fight other countries but what we have now are internal challenges to the extent that countries have destroyed what they built with their own hands and displaced persons internally,” he said.