… Harps on collaboration, warns against fanning embers of disunity, hatred
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has said the government is deploying technology to deal with insecurity in the state, urging residents to give relevant information that will assist the government in protecting the lives and property of citizens.
The governor said this while playing host to Muslim faithful at the Government House in Benin City, as part of activities to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitr.
Obaseki said: “Nation building starts with the individual and in Edo State, I believe that is what we have started. We would continue to work to improve security, which is local as no one can come to your neighborhood, places of worship without someone noticing.
“The Federal Government has its own responsibility. We can’t wait for them; we must secure ourselves. We are using technology to secure Edo State. Security is local and it is only you that can secure yourself. The problem is that people are reluctant to say anything for fear of being accused, but we are reorganising and changing the narrative in Edo, as we are giving our people a voice.”
“We are building a Command and Control Centre where people can lodge reports and reach the government directly with information on what is going on across the state. We are buying drones, installing cameras and using technology to secure Edo people because the security of all Edo citizens is our prime responsibility,” he noted.
Urging Nigerians to refrain from stoking the embers of disunity and disaffection, the governor noted: “The biggest problem in Nigeria today is disaffection. The world is changing but people refuse to change but rather causing disaffection across the country pointing to the disunity of Nigeria.
“The people that are not getting what they desire want Nigeria to fail. They are misguided and have failed, as Nigeria will remain united and will not disintegrate. We must not promote disaffection, but do things fairly. Once there is justice and fairness in the land, it will certainly reduce disaffection bringing in peace and harmony.”
“Nigeria is a great country as God has given us a diverse country, diverse in everything, particularly its people. Everybody can’t be the same or see things the same way or behave the same way. We have not come from the same tribe, but our beauty as a nation is in our diversity,” Obaseki said.
According to him, “What we should do as Nigeria is to bring out the uniqueness in Nigerians that made us great. There is nothing wrong with diversity; it is important and beneficial. We should continue to emphasize unity in diversity as it makes us strong as a nation.
“When we complain about Nigeria not working, we are actually complaining about ourselves. But collectively, we can make the country great. We can’t lay the blame of the nation solely on the footsteps of a few people. There may be failure in leadership; there is also failure in followership.”
On his part, Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque, Alhaji Abdulfattah Enabulele said, “Edo remains one of the peaceful states in Nigeria and I urge us all to guard it jealously.”
