At least 150 million Nigerians have been affected by insecurity, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, said on Friday.
Ribadu disclosed this in Abuja during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Counter Terrorism Centre and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The agreement aims to promote agribusiness and livelihood empowerment for communities impacted by terrorism and violent extremism.
The NSA said insecurity has had a devastating impact on agriculture, which remains the primary occupation for most Nigerians.
“Security is the biggest problem we are facing in all sectors, but the biggest victim of insecurity is agriculture because when it came in, it interfered with our lives; Nigerians are farmers. Either you’re a farmer or from a family of farmers, so all of us one way or the other, it has affected us. Insecurity has turned our lives upside down. When we come together, we are better off. We must come together to give our people their lives back.
“Our people are in dire need of this. I don’t think there is any country in the world today which is facing the challenges we are facing. Because we are big, we are huge in number. Populations that are affected by the insecurity in Nigeria may be in excess of 120 to 150 million,” he said.
He called for a whole-of-society approach to address the root causes of insecurity, including poverty, lack of opportunity, and social exclusion.
Ribadu warned that the security crisis threatens national stability, noting the collapse of neighbouring countries in the Sahel due to insurgencies.
“We are the only ones still standing strong in the Sahel, and that is thanks to the efforts of our security forces. But we are in difficulty,” he said.
He emphasised the need to complement military operations with non-kinetic solutions aimed at sustainable peace and development.
Also speaking, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Muktar Maiha, welcomed the initiative and called for a shift from military to agricultural development in rural areas.
He specifically called on the government to “replace armoured tanks with tractors” and to also “replace machine guns with milking machines” in the country.
He said, “Once people are productively engaged, they will not be available for recruitment, no matter the enticement, and this is what we are looking at and our vision today in the country. We want Nigeria’s countryside to be the symbol of what we want; we want tractors to replace armoured tanks.
“We want milking machines to replace machine guns; that should be the symbol. Let me repeat this for purposes of emphasis: tractors should replace armoured tanks; they have no place in our countryside. Milking machines should replace machine guns; they have no place in our country.”
