By Joy Offere

I was asked during the Cross Riverians in Diaspora conversation on Zoom the following question:

Why should Cross Riverians trust you to fight insecurity given that you were a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs and also an indigene of a very problematic community that frequently relapses into repeated cycles of inter-communal conflict and now you want to be Governor of Cross River state? I want to know why Cross Riverians should trust you in fighting insecurity and as a follow-up to that question, what will be your vision for addressing insecurity in Cross River State?

USANI: First, Cross Riverians should not only trust me in security but they should trust me in all aspects of Governance. The broad reason is that in all the responsibilities I have held, I do not think anyone has expressed disappointment in my approach to how I have performed. Now, on specifics, when you talk about security or insecurity, the key component of security or insecurity is the HUMAN FACTOR and so, if there is a pragmatic method of managing that HUMAN FACTOR, expressing excesses in ways that do not conform with the peace and harmony of the systems and that of the society, then it means our focus must be on that HUMAN FACTOR both as managers and as perpetrators of the act of insecurity. With this, my approach will be:

(1) That I do not think anybody or most people are willing to remain in the criminal den or the crime scene in which case, I think that they are forced to do it by circumstances. Therefore, there will be a need to attempt the incorporation of such people especially those who have relevant things to offer just as the government will create a platform to have them also integrated if they are willing so that they can also contribute to the productivity of the systems. The insecurity of Cross River State as it were now, is not as difficult to manage as people think, it is deliberate in some sense because if you remember in the times of Tafa Balogun as Inspector General of Police, he approved supernumerary police which enabled certain Governors as far back 2000, 2001 towards the elections of 2023 where some of the Governors took advantage of that and recruited thugs and gave them police uniforms and started perverting the systems of security. They didn’t end there, they were also given small arms and since then, the problem has been unchecked. With this, I believe there has to be a reversal.

To be continued.

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Joy Oferre

Thank you.

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