Why my meeting with bandits did not yield desired fruits — Masari

Katsina State governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari has adduced reasons for the continuous security challenges in the state, in spite of his negotiations with some armed bandits in the area in 2019.

In an interview with AGAJU MADUGBA, the governor insisted that security challenges are part of human development, asserting that Nigeria has enough cause to celebrate 22 years of unbroken democracy.

Some people have said that, as a result of the many challenges in Nigeria, there was no reason to celebrate Democracy Day. What’s your take?

We have every reason to celebrate Democracy Day in Nigeria. We have had an experiment with democracy and we have survived another year in it, even with all the turmoil and challenges, which are normal in life. So, we have every reason to thank God and to celebrate. Anybody who says we should not celebrate is perhaps not happy to be alive.

Since the beginning of time, challenges have always been there and we overcome each time and move forward. Yes, we have security challenges and this is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. All over the world and in Africa, the situation is the same. It is part of human development that we have to face challenges. But the most important thing is for us to have the capacity to deal with the challenges as they occur. The security situation should be the responsibility of all of us, irrespective of tribe, religion, geographical location and political affiliation. Crises, insurgency and banditry do not ask for who you are or your identity, or what you profess to be or what you support. That is why, as mankind, we should all unite and face our problems as Nigerians and I am sure that together, we will overcome the challenges we currently face.

But there is a general belief that the security situation appears to worsen by the day?

It’s not true. On the contrary, things are improving. Even you know that the situation has improved. Are we not getting better here in Katsina than what it was about two years ago, in terms of the rates of kidnappings, banditry, killings, incidents of rape? Have they not reduced? You have been here as long as me and probably longer than I have been. Yes, we agree that all is not well but things are getting better and we hope the situation will continue to get better. Even if we overcome these current challenges now, that does not mean we will never encounter other challenges in the future or as time goes on.

The challenges we have now can be attributed to years of neglect in developing the security infrastructure and that is why this government is working hard to make sure that it provides infrastructure needs of the security agencies and we put them on a sound footing against the future.

As part of your efforts to check banditry attacks and cattle rustling, you went into the forest to dialogue with the bandits. But it appears the initiative failed to yield the desired goals…

What we did in 2016 was more successful because only a minority of the bandits and criminals lived in the forest. But by the time we had a second round in 2019, the scale had turned upside down. Only 10 per cent were good and 90 per cent were bad. That is why the efforts we made in 2019 could not go far and we have come to realise that these bandits do not have any association. That they do not represent any political interest; they do not represent any religious interest. They are pure criminals and they operate in pockets under different warlords and there is no form of unity among them. There is no guarantee that if you negotiate with bandit A, that bandit C will not attack you. I think what we need to do when we eventually secure the areas is to put emphasis on education because we have discovered that illiteracy is the driver of banditry. We have to do all it takes to put emphasis on religious and Western education. There is the need for proper education in the rural communities. The population explosion takes place within the rural communities. The climate change also affects their means of livelihood. Dams and other water points are dried up and cattle routes are being turned into farmlands and the production of fodder has been drastically reduced. There is a lot of work to be done and I am sure it can be done.

There are insinuations that you did not give the bandits enough money during the negotiations, that it is the reason there appears to be a certain level of spike in banditry activities and cattle rustling in the state?

Do we give bandits money? How can we give them money? We are not supposed to give them money. Instead we should provide them with facilities to enable them live a normal life. Our approach consists of providing social amenities to help them lead a normal life. I cannot give money that belongs to the people of Katsina State to bandits. Katsina is a poor state and we don’t have financial resources to give to bandits. If we give bandits money, what about the people who lost their cattle and other means of livelihood, with their farms destroyed? What do we give them?

Are you going to abide by the recent Supreme Court judgment on local governments as it affects Katsina State?

Yes, very soon we are going to organise local government elections. I can safely say that we have gone up to 50 per cent in the process of conducting the elections in terms of the level of preparations. Very soon, when we conclude the preparations, we will fix the date. We welcome the Supreme Court ruling, they expected it and they got it and within this year there will be local government elections. We have already addressed some of the issues that led to the dissolution of the local councils as we have amended the Local Governments Act.

What have been your greatest challenges as governor since 2015?

The greatest challenge has been the issue of insecurity, followed by education. You need to go round to see the level of decay in the education sector due to several years of neglect. We have lost a lot of ground in education. Katsina used to be number one in the north but we have lost that position. But I am happy to say that we have started closing the gap. Going by the result from the Ministry of Education, out of the 56,000 candidates who sat for NECO examination last year, 91 per cent got five credits and above. So, we are making progress. Certainly, with time, Katsina will recover.

Do you normally have time for relaxation?

There is no time to relax. When you choose to serve in public office, the issue of relaxation should be put aside. There may be times when you rest, perhaps when you travel, but not while you are on ground. I go to bed in the early hours of the morning and wake up around 5am for prayers and go back 5.30 or 6 am and rise again by 10 am. Cumulatively, I am able to have between five and six hours of sleep and I think it is enough.  I go to the gymnasium about three times a week. (Adapted from Saturday SUN)