Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A United States-based author and veteran journalist, Mr. Tony Oyatedor has identified poverty and bad leadership as major factors that gave rise to Boko Haram insurgency as well as Niger Delta militancy in Nigeria.
He also said that terrorism was an error and sins of ignorance, which created excruciating distress and severe pains on Nigerians.
Failure to tackle poverty and Boko Haram through focused leadership, he noted was part of reasons, the current security challenges facing Nigeria may continue unabated.
He spoke while addressing journalists in Kaduna on the need for Federal Government to tackle the twin problems before they degenerate into monsters.
“Leadership must make peace with the twin problems, not because they want to but because they have to and to suggest otherwise would be inaccurate.
While noting that Nigeria was rich in natural and human resources, Oyatedor lamented that the country suffers from wide-spread poverty, due to bad leadership.
“Leadership must implement short-term goals to improve life for Nigerians. The country must wake up after decades-long slumber.
“Successful leadership work hard to build up reservoirs of goodwill (friends, not enemies) with their party, other branches of government, the media, the people of Nigeria, the people of their state, and local government origins, so that when the cookie crumbles (and it always will) they can tap into that goodwill to carry them through the difficulties.”
Oyatedor said he embarked on research on current security challenges and came up with solutions to the problems.