Uzodimma blames insecurity on unemployment, political gang-up

Unemployment and political gang-up are two key elements fuelling insecurity in the country, says Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.

According to the governor, both factors, which are also linked to poverty, can be dealt with if concerted efforts are made at providing employment for the teeming unemployed youths and if the politicians accept defeat in good faith after election.

The governor stated this when members of Course 30 of the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, who were on a study of Imo, led by the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies, Maj-Gen. Emeka Onumajuru, visited him at the Government House, Owerri last Thursday.

Addressing the team at the new Executive Chamber of Government House, Owerri, Uzodimma thanked the participants for their choice of Imo for the study as well as for deeming it fit to show solidarity with his government despite insinuations of large-scale insecurity in the state.

In a statement made available to The Guardian, the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the governor, Oguwike Nwachuku, noted that the governor assured his guests that Imo is peaceful and lauded the role and resilience of the security agencies in dealing with insecurity, especially those who paid the supreme price in the process of securing the state.

The Imo governor explained that the fight against insecurity requires concerted efforts by all the states in the country and the Federal Government, emphasising that “insecurity in one state or zone will no doubt snowball into insecurity in others.”

On the issues that led to insecurity in Imo, the governor said: “The causes are a combination of activities of bandits and political gang-up masterminded by politicians who ruled the state in the past and refused to accept defeat from 2019 election.”

He regretted that politicians learnt to take advantage of the vulnerability of unemployed young men and women to cause diverse problems of which, lately, insecurity is one, not just in Imo but also the society at large.

Uzodimma, however, said his administration was unrelenting in tackling the problem of unemployment and by extension, that of insecurity.

Earlier in his speech, Major-Gen. Onumajuru said the visit was part of the participants’ Study Tour, saying the essence was to enable them to “understand the socio-political conditions and environment of the entire country.”

He said to achieve the above, the course participants would cover the entire country in six states where each of the six teams would make a presentation of what they observed, experienced and gathered from the different parts of the country.