Dr Chris Ngige - www.ngige.com: Ngige: ‘We’ll Fight Insecurity with Job Creation’

Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate in Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said he would fight the precarious security situation in the state with job creation, if he wins the election.

Speaking on Ngige's behalf, state Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Udoka, said it is a one-track strategy to believe that only the arming of security agencies to fight crime in the midst of a roaming army of unemployed youths will be the panacea to this cancerous problem.

He said, "if you think that all it takes to fight crime is to arm security agencies with sophisticated weapons and communication gadgets, and set up vigilante groups in the locale of a teeming population of unemployed youths, you are wrong. You need to reduce the population of the unemployed, so as to also reduce the chunk of the population vulnerable to crime.

The reverse is what obtains in Anambra today. That is why with all the checkpoints manned by a highly equipped joint military patrol teams; the incidence of armed robbery and kidnapping is still overwhelming."

Udoka said if Ngige emerges victorious in the election, his tenure will witness rapid job creation as he did between 2003 and 2006, when with an efficient resource management system, his government opened up cadres of job opportunities that made armed robbery unattractive.

He said, "it is good to reflect on this period under reference; when even with personal security of the governor withdrawn and with ferocious aggression from federal establishments; the security situation in the state was not as threatening as it is today, because a sizeable population of youths were absorbed in gainful employment and for those who were not employed, the enabling environment was created as the numerous construction companies in the state were directed to source labour locally.

Story By: Chuks Okocha - ThisDay