Stakeholders have called for a more inclusive mechanism in government policies and programmes at the grass root as part of efforts to boost security and national growth.
They made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during a fireside chat at the just concluded Nigeria Economic Summit in partnership with Tropical General Investment (TGI) with the theme “Rural Nigeria: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, while commenting on the theme, said Nigeria required an inclusive country that carried grassroots people along.
He recalled that Boko Haram menace is not a religious problem but an environmental one as the occupants of that region felt they were not carried along.
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He added that the Niger Delta militants also started agitation because they felt they were short-changed in the process of oil exploration.
Citing examples of what he did when he was Kebbi State governor, he said, “The then minister of mineral resources Kayode Fayemi was invited to a gold-mining site where about 20 men informed us that the licence holders are reaping from the government. So, because they know the demography, they practically went in and brought gold for us because they understand the geology and that’s what led to the Presidential Gold Mining Initiative. So, for me that’s a way to promote rural inclusion.”
He added that an agricultural survey showed that about 40.9 million households are into agriculture which means that if they get government empowerment, there will be a boost in national and economic growth.
Speaking on the impact of inclusion on national growth, the Chief of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, said as part of measures to boost citizens’ cooperation and grassroot inclusion, the military is deploying “non-kinetic approach when we support community with hospitals, roads and schools for communities to have a sense of belonging in society. By doing so, it is easy for them to give us intelligence and help us in our fight against insurgency.”
He said it is important to improve grassroot inclusion, adding that, “If people feel not wanted, isolated and rejected, they can sabotage you and security is supposed to be everybody’s responsibility and we need to inculcate a security mindset among children.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Youth Development, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, said, “As part of efforts for youth grassroot mobilisation, we are currently tackling two key challenges which are inadequate access to finance and skills gap which are issues leading to unemployment. Therefore, we are making job creation a priority and exploring partnerships.”
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