The federal government of Nigeria has asked its nationals to stop giving ethnic colouration to crimes.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola stated this as he received a delegation from the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 14 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) on Friday February 12.
He averred that crime is evil to the nation and the morality of the African race and Nigeria in particular, abhors all forms of criminal activities.
Aregbesola asked the institute to think of how it could help Nigerians change the narrative of crime tied to a particular ethnic group and stop prioritising tension and heating up the polity unnecessarily.
The statement read in part;
“The Federal Government has called on Nigerians to avoid the temptation of giving ethnic colouration to criminal activities in the country, saying the morality of the African race and Nigeria in particular, abhors all forms of crimes and criminality.
Aregbesola observed that Nigerians must equate security with the global picture of a society that puts its emphasis on the dignity of man and human development, stressing further that crime is anathema to the nation.
“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 the crime. Our morality itself makes crime an unpopular vocation,” he said.
The Minister called on the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS), as a security training institution, to see the need to develop policy analysis that will ensure adequate reorientation of an average Nigerian to see crimes and criminality as they are.
According to him, the institution should begin to think of how it could help Nigerians change the narrative of crime tied to a particular ethnic group and stop prioritising tension and heating up the polity unnecessarily: as no good governance could be provided in the atmosphere of chaos.
Speaking earlier, the Commandant of the Institute, Ayodele Adeleke said that his team was in the Ministry to introduce the institution which was saddled with the responsibility of training top security personnel and also as part of its study requirements which he said, is to visit strategic Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the view to tapping from their wealth of experience that would help the institution to come up with 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.”
