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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has urged state governors to stop building flyovers in areas with little traffic and instead invest in road networks that improve lives and strengthen security across the country.
Speaking on Thursday while receiving traditional rulers from Oyo State led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, Tinubu said states are now receiving significantly higher allocations from the Federation Account. He said they should use the funds for projects that directly benefit citizens.
“They are taking four to five times their money. Nobody is borrowing money to pay salaries now. Pensioners are receiving their pay.
“They should do more instead of building flyover where there is no numeric traffic; build roads and artery networks to really enhance the quality of life and the accessibility of the security agencies to penetrate those areas,” Tinubu said.
The delegation visited the President to congratulate him on the rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State after 56 days in captivity.
Tinubu revealed that the kidnappers had demanded the release of detained gang members in addition to ransom, but his administration refused to negotiate.
“We refuse to negotiate for ransom. These criminals wanted us to release from detention members of their criminal gangs that were already arrested… And we said no deal. We are not going to negotiate with criminals,” he said.
The President said the successful rescue operation informed his decision to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions to improve response time and strengthen the fight against terrorism and banditry.
“We refused to pay ransom. We have the geography of the forest… from eight divisions, we are now moving to 12 divisions, to shorten the response time, to give that response time the teeth that is needed for us to defeat terrorism and banditry,” he added.
Tinubu also reaffirmed his administration’s plan to establish state police, saying safeguards would be put in place to prevent abuse of the system.
“There will be state police, and that state police will have guardrails from abuses. We will protect it from abuses, and you traditional rulers too will have a role to play more,” he added.
The President blamed the growing security challenges in Nigeria partly on instability in neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic, saying the situation has worsened cross-border insecurity.
He said the Nigerian Government would continue to strengthen forest guards and other security measures to tackle the threat.
