Poor governance, lack of accountability by states responsible for insecurity – report

A report by the Good Governance Index (GGI) has attributed poor leadership and lack of accountability at the state and local government levels as responsible for the level of insecurity being experienced in parts of the country.

The Good Governance Index (GGI) said it came to this conclusion after systemic research on factors responsible for insecurity in Nigeria to identify the elements behind the escalation.

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To achieve its goal, the non-profit organisation said it relied on primary sources of data in interviews, on the spot assessments tours, interactions with key stakeholders at the various tiers of government as well as a close review of documents and policy papers on governance in Nigeria.

At the end of its research, the GGI said it discovered that poverty is more prevalent in local areas, hence the insecurity.

The report signed by the special rapporteur, Dr Thomas Uzah, on Tuesday, also revealed that a bulk of the security challenges emanates from the state and local government levels due to failures of the elites at the helms of affair.

It also said that there is a lack of accountability and transparency by government officials, leaving the young population susceptible to criminal elements.

The GGI, through the report, however, called on the Federal Government to begin the process of demanding accountability and transparency from state and local governments.

According to the group, this will ensure that terrorist and other criminal gangs do not find the local government areas as veritable grounds for the escalation of violence in the country.