ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel says economic security is the best foundation to guarantee total human security.
Governor Emmanuel also identified hopelessness as the highest causative factor for crime.
He said: “The best way to stop crime is to beef up the economy, where people can make a decent living from honest means.”
The Akwa Ibom Governor stated this recently while delivering a keynote lecture at the 17th Africa Security Watch Conference at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center, Banjul, The Gambia.
Governor Emmanuel, in his lecture titled: ‘Sustaining Security in Africa through Good Governance: A Panacea for Insecurity’, charged African leaders to explore the possibility of using other forms of money, other than cash.
To buttress his proposition to the leaders, the Governor, who emphasized that “cash is limited but money is limitless and it can be created,” said “In starting Ibom Air, my state government did not use cash, we used money.
“We couldn’t have started the airline with cash, because we didn’t have such, but we created money and today, many years running, we are the only sub-national in the continent with a commercial airline, which is doing very well.”
He noted that Africa cannot achieve its desired growth through investment, until the problem of insecurity was fixed.
Also, the Akwa Ibom State Chief Executive, echoed his alignment with the postulation that “a country cannot be free without her people being free.”
Consequently, the Governor called on the followership to take ownership of governance and offer the requisite support for the leadership to move on, even as he called on African countries to stop adapting exogenous constitutions.
Governor Emmanuel underscored the need for home grown democratic styles that reflect African environment and culture “Until that is done, democracy cannot sustainably thrive here.”
In his welcome remarks, the President, Chief Executive Officer of Security Watch Africa Initiatives, Mr. Patrick Agbambu, said: “The conference invited Governor Emmanuel to share his development strategy, which has not only made his state peaceful, but has attracted huge Foreign Direct Investments there at a time when investors are divesting from Nigeria” and explained that “the organization has been monitoring the steady improvement of the state in all areas of development.”