Politician and Activist, Senator Shehu Sani has said that foreugners cannot free the North from the siege of bandits, but the people themselves.
Sani therefore challenged the people to free themselves from the shackles of banditry by standing up for themselves.
Sani said the people must be fully involved in the battle against banditry.
He spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the unveiling of his two books “Perilous path to Europe: the Sahara odyssey and the Councilor.
Shehu said time has come for the people to organise themselves to confront the reality of insecurity, which is the central message of the drama from another of his works, “the village and vigilante”, which is aimed at sparking up the light of resistance in the hearts of the people.
He said: “In the northeastern part of Nigeria, you have ISIS, you have Boko Haram, you have Ansar, and now we are having the Mongrel and Lakurawa terror cells in northern Nigeria. But I can assure you that if people are united and enlightened and supported by state apparatus, they can defeat those who feel that they own the land and can use the force of arms to subdue everyone.
“We should not think that a foreign power will come here and free us from these bandits. We are to do it ourselves.
“We have a track record of restoring peace and order in other nations. Today, banditry and terrorism is the reality of our time. America will not solve our problems. We are to solve our problems ourselves. And we can do it.
“We are a nation of 230 million people, and if you put the summation of all these bandits and terrorists, they are not more than 5,000. People should be encouraged, people should be conscientized, people should be mobilized to stand in the defense of their freedom, and to stand in defense of their dignity and sanctity as human beings. From Zamfara, to Katsina, to Kebbi, parts of Kaduna State, Niger State, we have seen how bandits have unleashed a regime of hell on our people.They kill our people, they kidnap for ransom, they raze down villages, they displace millions of our people. This was not our life 20 to 30 years ago.
“Your security, your peace, and your survival is dependent not just on what the government can do, but how you are able to organize yourself within your own locality and stand up to these bandits and terrorists.”
Sani said the literature work was part of his contribution towards addressing the security challenges bedeviling the country, especially the north east and north west.
The village and the vigilante is a dramatization of a typical situation in Northern Nigeria. So that is what it’s all about.
He said the play, the Village and vigilante will be staged across the northern part of the country to help awaken the spirit of the people and give them hope.
He said, “And the idea of coming up with a play that will be staged as a drama on stage, that will inspire and encourage communities under the siege of banditry and terrorism, not to lose hope, but to stand firm, organize themselves, and confront the reality and the danger that is threatening their life, their existence, and their survival as a people. The village and the vigilante is a stage play that will explain the various roles played by the stakeholders in a typical rural area in northern Nigeria. We have the traditional rulers, we have the people, we have the vigilantes, we have the security agencies, all representing different characters.
“The village and the vigilante, we hope, will send a clear message to the people of our country that the situation which we find ourselves in today is a face in the life of our nation. It’s not going to be with us forever.”
The book on the Perilous journey to Europe, the Sahara Odyssey, is a documentation of the ordeal faced by our young people that have dreams of greener pastures in Europe.
He said “They end up in the hands of human traffickers who collect large sums of money, taking them through the Sahara to Libya where they end up as slaves. In Libya, they spend months and years before taking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. The island of Lampedusa in Italy has become a camp for many of our young men who believe that life will be better in Europe than it is here.
“The message to each and every one of us is that if the Indians and the Chinese are moving to Europe like the way we are, they couldn’t have built their own nations. It is for us to know that there are opportunities in your country. Crossing the Sahara, risking your life in the Mediterranean Sea is not the solution.
“There is no dream for you to realize in Europe. Your dream can be realized here in your country.
He is also of the belief that the book will help in reducing or bringing an end to this dangerous, irregular migration across the Mediterranean Sea.
Ends
