Corruption, Greater Threat To Security –SSS

Contrary to assumptions that religious intolerance was the greatest threat to national security, the Director of State Security Service (SSS) in Rivers State, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, has said corruption poses the greatest threat.

Speaking at a symposium organised by the Rivers State Civil Service in Port Harcourt, recently, Mr Agbaje said even the recent disturbances masterminded by some Moslem fundamentalists could be traced to foreign sources.

Among issues he identified as sources of security challenges in Nigeria, were the proliferation of arms, corruption, threat to democracy and drug trafficking.

Others, he said were flashes in the Niger Delta, economic sabotage, hostile media, poverty and unemployment as well as porous borders.

He said that even the formal dis-engagement of militants in the Niger Delta through the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme, the influence of that era that took so many lives and gave Nigeria a bad name, could still be felt.

“The proliferation of arms has supported criminality in the South-East and the South-South where small arms can be found with civilians the most in Nigeria. This has also compromised the economic wellbeing of the country and created fear for the people”, he said.

According to him, the problem of corruption was not only with those who steal from the system, but more with the larger majority who would see corrupt practices and fail to speak up or oppose it.

He explained that the media could be used for a lot of good purpose, but regretted that some media organisations were being used for political, religious or questionable agenda which he said could become hostile to the collective security of the nation.

Earlier in his paper, a consultant cardiologist in the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, Dr Michael Nyemenim had urged workers to pay due attention to their health and not get carried away by the pursuit of money.

According to him, without good health, it was impossible to produce wealth. He added that good health was also affected by the life style of the people, the food they eat and the  attitude they develop.

He said research had proven that people who do not mind doing extra works that are not paid for maintain better health and age gracefully.

Dagogo Clinton

President Goodluck Jonathan (left), with former President Olusegun Obasanjo after a meeting on education in Abuja, recently.