Senator Links Insecurity To Poverty, Seeks Improved Defense Budgeting
Poverty is one of the major causes of the growing insecurity in Nigeria and many other countries, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim has said.
The lawmaker warned that failure on the part of governments globally to effectively address poverty in their societies will continue to worsen the situation.
Senator Ibrahim (Ondo South) stated this in his address at the just concluded 150th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Uzbekistan, Central Asia.
Ibrahim, who chairs the committee on Interparliamentary Affairs in the Nigerian Senate, said it required courage for governments to address “the flip side of fear among citizens and failing systems”.
“Life is increasingly tricky amid this struggle, yet we still maintain a defence structure. It is only a matter of time before one of these emotions – fear or courage – prevails.
“I saw fear within government leadership, leading to unprecedented crises and heightened insecurity,” he added.
The senator, who is a warfare strategy expert, tasked parliaments globally on the need for supportive budgets for defence ministries in their various countries.
According to him, a supportive approach to annual budgeting for defence ministries globally was necessary to stem the escalation of insecurity in many countries of the world.
“The central question for governments and security agencies should be, Security for whom, when, and how?
“Addressing power and insecurity issues alongside their ecosystems is key to the security of the geocentric system,” Ibrahim said.
He observed that when a parliament functions as an oversight entity examining security expenditures, it might inadvertently foster insecurity.
The process, he noted, required the adoption of a collaborative and supportive approach as far as annual budgets for defence ministries are concerned globally.
The lawmaker stressed that the key concern for parliaments globally should be an efficient system that highlights process innovation.
He called for an urgent review of the process of managing and fighting fraud associated with security spending.
Senator Links Insecurity To Poverty, Seeks Improved Defense Budgeting is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
