The Kano State government has assured of its readiness to collaborate with partners to strengthen policy framework to combat violent extremism and other forms of criminality in the state.
Governor Abba Yusuf stated this when he received a high-level delegation from the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser and ActionAid Nigeria (AAN).
Represented by the secretary to the state government, SSG, Dr. Baffa Bichi, the governor said as far as the state is concerned, it would take preventive rather than remediation measures through some initiatives aimed at fighting poverty, which is the root cause of crime and criminalities.
He said such initiatives include the monthly empowerment of 5,200 rural women and youths with N50,000 to boost their trading through the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication; declaration of the state of emergency on education to provide free education from primary to secondary school and the creation of the ministry of security and internal affairs to support the federal government effort in the spate of rising insecurity especially in northern Nigeria.
He posited that, once a society is kept out of poverty and its citizens educated and empowered, the society will prosper, and the menace of violent extremism and other forms of crime will also be addressed.
The SSG however assured the delegation of the state’s commitment to the partnership, stating that, the essence of government is to provide security and ensure the wellbeing of all in the state.
Earlier in her remarks, Director of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism(PCVE) from the national counter terrorism centre, Mairo Abbas, said the aim of their visit was to sought the support and collaboration of the state on the interventions already being implemented by AAN to scale up initiatives to support ownership and sustainability.
“AAN has also established the Partnership Against Violent Extremism (PAVE) Kano State Chapter which will work with the National PAVE network to implement the Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Knowledge, Innovation, and Resource Hub in the state, to support the development of State and Local Action Plans for PCVE and to integrate PCVE into state and local governance narratives and policies.”
Speaking also, AAN deputy country director, Suwaiba Dankobo, said over the past three years, it has implemented a project, – System and Structure Strengthening Approach Against Radicalisation to Violent Extremism (SARVE III), aimed at identifying the underlying causes of radicalisation to violent extremism and developing strategies to address the problem in 12 communities in Gwale, Bichi, Nassarawa, Gwarzo, Bebeji and Tudun Wada local government areas of Kano State.
She also noted that the recent protest in the state glaringly highlighted the fragility of the society fabric which calls for actions to meet people’s demands, especially the younger generation and the need for inclusivity in governance.
She added that 300 youths and women were handed livelihood equipment worth N51 million and beneficiaries were trained on rice processing and milling, groundnut production/processing and tailoring.
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