Orji Uzor Kalu
The immediate past Senate Chief Whip and lawmaker representing Abia North senatorial district, Orji Uzor Kalu has commended the efforts of President Bola Tinubu in tackling insecurity in various parts of the country.
Addressing the gathering at his residence in Igbere, Bende local government area of Abia state, Kalu, the ex-governor of Abia state, emphasized the critical role of security.
He handed over four patrol vehicles to both the Abia State Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Igbere Vigilante Service.
Kalu noted that without addressing the issue of insecurity, meaningful development at the local, state, and federal government levels would be challenging to achieve.
The Senator stated that, under President Tinubu, Nigeria has made progress in containing insurgent activities.
However, he emphasized that no matter how much money is allocated to security in the budget, addressing insecurity requires the collective efforts of all Nigerians.
He said: “President Tinubu is having sleepless nights in the fight against crime and seeking ways to lift the economy of the country. Nigerians are suffering, but it is not the cause of this administration. We should collectively come together to fight crime and insecurity in the country.
“We must support President Tinubu. People should bring out their hearts to work for the country. President Tinubu should put his feet on the ground to openly fight corruption, electricity and crime if Nigeria must work.
“I want to thank the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the supplementary budget that he gave us to pass a few days ago and 90 percent of that budget was for security.
“I am pleading with our society, that they should shun crime so that we can use the money budgeted for security to put in electricity, roads and among others, for people to move around.
“The beauty of constitutional democracy is the time limit. President Buhari is no longer here today, President Tinubu has taken over. People who are damaging our infrastructure thinking that it is owned by President Tinubu should know that President Tinubu is just a trustee holding the country for all of us.”
Kalu clarified that the provision of security patrol vehicles was not part of a constituency project but rather a demonstration of his backing for the police and vigilantes in their endeavours to combat crime in the state.
He praised the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, for assigning experienced police personnel to the state.
Kalu highlighted that, for the first time in the past eight years, the state experienced a peaceful Christmas and festive celebration in the previous December.
He noted: “This is purely from my heart because I felt that there was a need to support the local, state, and federal government in their fight against crime and criminality in the local government, the state and the nation at large. Crime is what nobody would want to be battling or faced with.
“I want to encourage the commissioner of Police and his team in their desire to ensure that Abia is safe for visitors and residents.
“I want to thank the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for posting the CP and his team to the state and for the effective posting that he has been doing since he took over as the IGP.
“This is the first time that Abia has a team of police officers that know the state very well, which is why we can say that the last Christmas was one of the best Christmas that we have had in the state in the last 8 years.
“Supporting the police is not because we have so much money to do it. It is because the mandate to give one vehicle to the DPO Igbere, Area Commander Ohafia and one to the Area Commander in Isuikwuato is to support them so that they can help in combating crime in the state.
“As long as we live and have more resources available, we will be able to support other commands in other parts of the state.
“The importance of a secure environment cannot be overemphasized.
Our people should shun violence and see the need to be more resourceful for themselves, their families and the country at large.
“I will appreciate that other well-meaning Abians will join the state government in supporting the security agencies in the state because the resources being given to the security agencies is not enough and can never be enough; I am saying this because in the Senate and I sit in most committees that interact with several security agencies in the country.”
The Abia North senator, who expressed fears over the impending food scarcity in the land, called on the traditional rulers in the state to encourage their subjects to embrace farming as a tool to address food insecurity.
He added: “Our people should embrace farming because there is a need for our people to address the rising food insecurity in the land. Our youths should stop idling about, but rather think of how to become more resourceful.”
In his reaction, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie who received the vehicles Kalu and presented same to the Igbere Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ohafia Area Command and Isuikwuato Command respectively promised that the vehicles would be put into good use.
According to CP Onwuemelie, the donation of the vehicles calls for more hard work from the respective beneficiaries within their Areas of Responsibility (AoR).
