Nigerian citizens have been urged to avoid the temptation of giving ethnic colouration to criminal activities in the country, as the morality of the African race and Nigeria in particular, abhors all forms of crimes and criminality.
Minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola made the appeal in his office in Abuja, when he received a delegation from the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 14, of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS), led by its Commandant, Ayodele Adeleke.
Aregbesola said, crime is anathema to the nation, and Nigerians must equate security with the global picture of a society that puts its emphasis on the dignity of man and human development.
“One thing we must all resist is the tendency of seeing crime in relation to one ethnic group or another. A criminal is a criminal no matter the ethnic group he or she belongs to. No ethnic group in Nigeria glorifies crime and criminality, so let us all condemn crime. Our morality itself makes crime an unpopular vocation,” he said.
The Minister charged the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS), as a security training institution, to develop policy analysis that ensures adequate reorientation of an average Nigerian to see crimes and criminality for what they are.
He also challenged the institution to proffer processes that could help Nigerians change the narrative of crime tied to a particular ethnic group, desist from prioritising tension and wantonly heating up the polity, as no good governance could be provided in an atmosphere of chaos.
Aregbesola stated that there is no Nigerian who has nothing to contribute to national development, and called on philanthropists to collaborate with Government to empower the less privileged in the society and reduce the rate of poverty amongst the people, which he observed, is more often than not, a major contributory factor to crime and criminality in most societies of the world.
Speaking earlier, the Commandant of the Institute, Ayodele Adeleke disclosed that his team was in the Ministry to introduce the institution, which is saddled with the responsibility of training top security personnel.
He added that part of the institute’s study requirement is to undertake visits to strategic Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with a view to tapping from their wealth of experience, so as to help the institution to propose quality suggestions and SWOT analysis on how to provide good governance for the people of Nigeria and West African sub-region, in a better and secured environment. He further said that the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) was a leading centre for the provision of ‘competent and enhanced training for middle and top level managers of security in order to advance the best practice in conflict prevention, mitigation and resolution.’
Adeleke pledged the commitment of the Institute to partnering with the Ministry of Interior and other relevant Agencies of Government, with the view to ending the security challenges presently confronting the country.
