Governor Seriake Dickson, of Bayelsa State, has called for a joint effort from the political leadership in the country to ensure efficient provision of economic opportunities and infrastructural development and check insecurity in the country.
He also stressed the need for collaborative efforts in tackling holistically the challenges of environmental degradation and insecurity in the North East, Niger Delta and other parts of the country for the enthronement of lasting peace and stability in the country.
Governor Dickson stated this, when the Director, Foreign Liaison of the Defence Intelligence Agency in the country, Brigadier General Augustine Agundu led a team of foreign defence attaches of missions in Nigeria, to pay a courtesy visit to him in Government House, Yenagoa.
He identified the absence of economic opportunities, physical development and environmental pollution, mainly caused by oil and gas production as some of the underlying factors giving rise to security challenges in the Niger Delta.
While re-emphasizing the need for law and order in the region, Governor Dickson reiterated his call on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to show more understanding and collaboration in their efforts to resolve the issues.
Appreciating the international community for providing assistance to the country’s military in fighting insurgency and other security challenges in the north east and other parts of the country, the governor said, the his administration would continue to give support to the law enforcement agencies to sustain the existing peace in the state.
His words: “Talking about concerns and challenges, all countries have their own fair share so security challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria. As you are all aware, all countries deal with their concerns and challenges from time to time.
“But, it is the duty of leadership, especially political leadership, to rise to the occasion and devise non-violent ways of addressing the security concerns and challenges. Be, they challenges of economic inclusion, or environmental degradation and the need to redress it or be they challenges of more physical development on ground”
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Brigadier General Augustine Agundu, explained that the visit was organized by the Defence Intelligence Agency to enable the foreign attaches to have a first hand knowledge of the issues, with a view to changing the stereo-type perception about the Niger Delta and the nation as a whole.
According to him, the team expressed satisfaction with the efforts on the ground to achieve sustainable peace in the Niger Delta, adding that, much of the logistics support Nigeria receives from friendly nations, was facilitated by the foreign defence attaches.
In an interview, the Dean of the Corps of Defence Attaches, Col. Marc Humbert said, the security situation was getting better in the Niger Delta area, but there was the need for synergy between the political and military efforts, in the fight against insecurity.
Over 20 countries were represented on the visit, which include, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Japan, Germany, Pakistan, France, Angola, South Sudan and Italy.
Others are Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran, Brazil, Niger, Turkey, Senegal and Zambia.