From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, yesterday, said that he would tackle security challenges confronting the country within six months if elected president in 2023.

He said state police would be one enduring approach to addressing the festering insecurity in Nigeria.

Governor Wike spoke while wooing delegates of PDP in Jalingo,  Taraba State, dismissed the argument against state police.

  “The Federal Government, you cannot stop this insecurity if you don’t have state police. You must have state police, there are no two ways about it. Having a state police does not mean you will not have a federal police. All over the federal system, even councils have their own police so that you employ people who know the environment.

“You cannot take a stranger to go to Mabilla; it will take him years to understand that place. You can’t take a stranger and go to Donga or Chanchangi. So, you need people who know the environment so they will be able to take care of the place.

“If federal offences are committed, the federal police should handle them. If  they are state offences, the state police should handle. So, one key thing to stop this insecurity in Nigeria is to have state police.”

   He said those opposing state police often argued that if allowed, governors would use it against their opponents.

“The question is will the governors be in office permanently? So, that argument is neither here or there. If this party called APC government loves Nigeria and committed to Nigeria, one project that they would have given to Nigeria is state police.”

Governor Wike explained that the beauty of establishing state police is to ensure that people who are indigenous to an area are engaged in policing their environment.

    He told the delegates that he was presenting himself to them to be given the presidential ticket to fly the party’s flag in the 2023 election because he is prepared to end the many troubles facing Nigeria.

According to him, Nigeria needs a leader who is forthright, can speak the truth always and competently be the Commander-in-Chief who goes to the field where Nigerians can relate with their daily experiences.

“The one problem that our (PDP) government (under me if elected) must solve is to bring down the level of insecurity in this country. Otherwise, there is no way the economy can grow.

“When bandits hear my name, they will run because I will take the war to them. I will be the Commander- in-Chief in action.

“I’ll be commanding in projects, in security, in agriculture and the economy together with the armed forces. I’ll be commanding every aspects of life that will make Nigerians happy. This is because I have the capacity to solve the problems of Nigeria.”

        He visited victims of Tuesday’s bomb blast at the Federal Medical Center Jalingo and promised to offset their medical bills.

    He described such incidents including the operations of Boko Haram and bandits that have killed most Nigerians, as the legacy of the APC-led Federal Government.

 Governor Darius Ishaku also lamented the state of insecurity and expressed optimism that if PDP returns to power in 2023, the party would restore the lost glory of the country.

“He (Wike) speaks the truth, he fears nobody, and he is a workaholic. You have seen how he has turned Rivers State to a working site. We welcome him. We know what he has said, if God permits he will do it.

“Nigeria is yearning for leadership. He has said it, hunger doesn’t know East, South or West. Kidnapping doesn’t know South, East or West. Security is security. If there is no security, there is no economy. If there is no economy, the country is not existing.”

Former governor of Gombe State Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo described Governor Wike as a faithful party man with requisite experience to lead Nigeria.

“He is a true party man. Wike joined the party in 1998 and he is still in the party. He has never left even when the going was tough. When great people ran away, Wike stayed. He did not only stay, because he did not have anywhere to go, he contributed in building the party, in making the party stable and ensuring that the party continue as a growing concern. I have been to Rivers State while I was a governor, and have also been to Rivers State while I left as a governor. This is a man that has performed extremely very well. In education, health, social interaction of people and most importantly in security.”

In the area of security which is our major problem in Nigeria today, Wike has stabilised the Niger Delta today, particularly his own state of Rivers.