Rep Blames Unemployment For Increasing Insecurity

A member of House of Representatives, Mr Kehinde Odeneye (Ogun-APC), yesterday blamed increasing insecurity in the country on unemployment.
Odeneye said in Abuja that the Federal Government should urgently do something about unemployment to stem the level of vices in the country.
According to him, unemployment must be tackled, if not security challenges will continue to rise.
“When the teeming number of youths in the country does not have hope for tomorrow, crime does not matter to them anymore.
“You can imagine a situation where young people who are supposed to be giving back to their parents are still being fed even as graduates, it is a very discouraging situation,” he said.
The lawmaker advocated the creation of a ministry of social development that would create employment opportunities for the youth.
“Government should ensure that there is sustainable empowerment programmes geared toward engaging the youth meaningfully.
“There is need to encourage self-sustainable programmes for the youths to grow and be employers of labour,” he said.
Odeneye urged government at all tiers to partner the private sector to provide vocational training for youths across the country.
Describing community policing as a more effective way of curbing insecurity, he called for concerted efforts in the fight against crime in the society.
“We need community policing because the Nigerian Police do not have the capacity in terms of number to be able to curb the kind of insecurity challenges we have in this country.
“We cannot leave it in their hands alone; in every community, when we see strange faces we know and we can easily tackle them, we can easily challenge and arrest them,” he said.
On herdsmen and farmers clashes, Odeneye said that deployment of security agencies may not provide the needed solution to the problem.
“Since the police and the military moved into the issues of herdsmen, the problems have not stopped.
“The first thing I expect the government to understand is that herdsmen were living in those communities before and there were clashes before which were resolved amicably.
“But, why is this one getting out of hand? Is it not possible that insurgents who were technically defeated in some areas have found themselves under the guise of herdsmen?
“Why would they be burning farmlands and houses if they are herdsmen who were living there before?
“Government should find out why the sudden clashes and why they are burning farmlands and houses as well as killing and maiming people.
“These are questions that need some answers,” he said.