Obasanjo Worries over Deteriorating Security, Advocates Community Policing

*Ex-president’s foundation distributes hearing aids to 2,000 Bauchi citizens worth N6bn

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed deep concern over deteriorating security in the nation, calling for community policing in order to address the situation before it gets out of control.
Obasanjo, who spoke when he paid a courtesy call on the Bauchi State Council of Traditional Rulers at the Palace of the Emir of Bauchi, said the situation of insecurity in Nigeria today has degenerated so badly.
The former president, who emphasised that drastic measures must be put in place in order to tackle the problem, said government should prioritise the security of lives and property of the citizenry.
“During our terms in office, we prioritised the security of lives and properties across the country. Right now, we need to do something urgently about this.
“The best form of security is community policing because everyone knows his/her neighbours within the community. With that, it is very easy to identify the bad eggs.
“I am calling on traditional institutions to step in and encourage community policing within their environment in order to reduce the spate of committing crimes.
“During our service to the nation, we did everything collectively, our decisions were taken together in order to have a uniform focus. My brother, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu is seated here and he will bear me witness. Whatever we achieved then, was a collective effort.
“We need peace, unity and collective support in this country if we must move forward. Things can be right and good again in the country, all we need to do is to get united and do things collectively,” he said.
Obasanjo however hinted that his foundation in partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation, had distributed hearing aids worth N6 billion to about 2,000 people in Bauchi State, who had hearing impairment.
He also enjoined Nigerians especially top functionaries to imbibe the habit of regular medical checkup in order to ascertain their state of health for a healthy living
Obasanjo made the disclosure during the launch of his foundation, the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation (OOF) with the mission of Empowering Africans, particularly those with hearing challenges, held at the New Banquet Hall of the Governor’s Office in Bauchi on Sunday.
Earlier, the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdukadir Mohammed, told the Council of Traditional Rulers that the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was in Bauchi to share in the joy of the good governance being provided by his administration to the people of the state.
He said that the former President while in Bauchi would commission two road projects executed by his administration for the development of the state as well as easy transportation from one point to the other.
On Obasanjo’s medical intervention, Mohammed commended his foundation for touching the lives of the common man through the distribution of the hearing aids, saying that the gesture was very timely
He said in today’s world, many people had been disabled, not by any inherent capacity, but by preventable conditions and curable diseases that is fueled by fueled by poverty and other wants.
Mohammed said many persons lacked access to modern devices that would improve their quality of life, adding that it was disheartening that something of basic necessity can deny people to enjoy their lives.
In his remarks, Chairman, Bauchi State Council of Traditional Rulers, Dr Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu commended the former president for accepting the invitation to come to Bauchi to identify with the people of the state.