Old Seminarians lament over state of hopelessness in Nigeria …As Ex – IG says criminals are ahead of security measures

By Iyojo Ameh

Old Seminarians Association of Nigeria (OSAN) bemoaned alleged state of hopelessness in Nigeria on Friday at its 2023 Convention held in Abuja .

This is even as one of the old Seminarians and former Inspector – General of Police, Mike Okiro, tasked the federal government to fight crime with technology and not just manpower as many of the criminals are ahead of the security measures mapped out against them by the various security agencies.

In his key note address at the convention , Dr Ozichukwu Fidelis Chukwu, said the situation in Nigeria presently going by myriad of problems confronting it , is that of hopelessness and citizens helplessness .

According to him , as worrisome as the situation is , it didn’t happen in a vacuum as alarm bells signalling the situation , rang for several years without required proactive measures taken by relevant authorities.

“The theme for this convention which is ‘Building our Fraternity for Prosperity’ is good but must extended to the Nigeria society that is in a state of hopelessness and citizens helplessness .

“In doing that, we need to add more values to the society and serve as role models in whatever positions we find ourselves”, he said.

Making similar submission during interview with journalists at the sideline of the events, the former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro said the worsening security situation in the country made the key note speaker described the situation generally as that of hopelessness.

He however said if the problem of security is well tackled by government through technology, the story would change for better in no distant time.

“When you talk of the hopelessness in the country, talk of the grey areas , one of them is security. There is gross insecurity in the country. You know Nigeria is part of the world. Insecurity is a global issue, but every country sits down to plan and to devise methods to check insecurity.

“In Nigeria, the government is equally trying to check insecurity. You cannot get 100%, but you can be sure you have done your best and leave the rest to God. The government should ensure that security agencies are well equipped and trained.

“Police is short of manpower, they should recruit more people and give them equipment to solve the problem.

“You cannot solve the problem of insecurity with bare hand. We are in a modern, digitalised world. So, you fight insecurity with technology.

“The government should do something to ensure that security agencies are well equipped to confront these criminals, because the criminals go to the internet, they read. So, they are ahead of the security agencies.

“For you to succeed, the security agencies should be ahead of them and tackle them before they do what they want to do”, he said .

Earlier in his speech , the President of OSAN who doubles as Clerk of the Senate , Chinedu Akubueze , said the Nigerian society is bedeviled by self – imposed ills , occasioned by lack of collective sense of patriotism , which according to him, ordinarily, should emphasize love for the Nation rather than undue recourse to ethno – religious cleavages and clannish leanings.