News Editor
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says his administration will continue to support security agencies operating in the state to deliver on their mandates.
Makinde stated this on Friday at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, while receiving State Directors of the Department of State Services(DSS) in the South West zone led by the chairman, Sheikh Mohammed Waziri.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the directors are in Ibadan for their South West Zonal Conference.
Makinde emphasised that security was key to the successful implementation of government policies.
He commended DSS personnel for helping to tackle insecurity in all the nooks and crannies of the country.
” I am happy that from your interaction, you have been able to come up with the fact that drug abuse and children in primary school becoming cultists are common.
“Yes, we can go after them just like you have suggested. We can win the war with brute force but can we win peace with the same force?
“For us, we think striking at the heart of what is causing all of these is germaine.
“When you have a situation where the resources are limited and we are all scrambling for it and we are not baking enough cake to go round, then there will always be serious issues.
“So, I will ask that in your recommendations and course of action, let us also look at how we can win the peace.
“For us as an administration, we know that the essence of power is to ensure that people are able to live their dreams and go about their daily businesses in a safe and secure atmosphere.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank you very much because we know that while we are sleeping and enjoying ourselves, you are on the edge and all over the place to ensure we sleep with our two eyes closed.
“The least we can do is to give you support and we will continue to support you,” he said.
The governor also charged the DSS to ensure it emphasizes on issues that would unite Nigeria, adding that the country had never been this divided.
In his remarks, the leader of the team, Waziri, said that DSS understood the importance of security in a polity, adding that without security there would not be development.
“We are concerned just like Your Excellency is also concerned about the increasing threat to local and national security in terms of kidnappings, cultism and famers/herders clashes.
“We are also concerned that this is also a period that all hands must be on deck to ensure that we resolve some of those issues.
“And, as an intelligence-based organisation, it is our responsibility to identify the threats, share the concerns, and identify the criminals and miscreants within both governed and ungoverned spaces.
“Concerning the issue of cultism at the local level, we are looking at how we can reach out to stakeholders at the state and local levels to see how we can manage the perception of individuals.
“We want to also see how we can prosecute those that are recalcitrant in terms of addressing some of these issues.
“It is our hope that the governor will give us all the support that is necessary to fulfil our mandate,” he said.
(NAN)
