The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje has said the federal government is ready to recruit Forests Rapid Response Squad, train them with modern technology to tackle kidnapping and reclaim forest areas from bandits.
Ganduje said the Forest Rapid Response Squad will be equipped with modern technology and stationed within the forest to retake the forest from bandits, using the forest for their nefarious acts.
The former governor stated this at the inaugural APC Northwest Stakeholders Meeting on Sunday at Murtala Square Kaduna.
Ganduje said, “We must train Forest Rapid Response Squad that are stationed within the forests, with their houses and infrastructural facilities within the forests.
“We must train them, equip them and provide technology in our forests, so that we can take over completely.
“If we succeed in doing that, then the issue of banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery, will be eventually resolved.
“Enough is enough for the large-scale insecurity in some parts of the country including our own geopolitical zone.
“We must all work together to ensure the security of lives and property of our people. This is the cardinal objective of any government in power.
“If we work together as a team to ensure the security of lives and property in our geographical zone, the democratic dividends and economic viability will be the order of the day. In order to achieve this, we must think out of the box.”
“We are all aware that our forests in Nigeria and all over the world were meant to balance the ecosystem. But what is happening to our forest now? Our forests are only forests to us, but they are cities to bandits. So, we must find a practical solution to these problems. We must protect our forests.”
Ganduje called for support from stakeholders in the northwest to assist the president in leading the country out of the security and economic challenges facing it to prosperity.
“This is the first time a thoroughbred democrat and politician is leading our country as President. So, we have no excuse to fail.
“President Bola Tinubu has not left anyone in doubt about his genuine commitment to turn the fortunes of our nation around for the betterment of all of us.
“There is an urgent need for our party stakeholders to engage in massive sensitization of Nigerians on the giant strides of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to facilitate a Nigeria that truly works for all classes of Nigerians.
“The president has clearly shown us that politics must not always divide us or cause bad blood. The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu from what we have seen has stuck to the path of rebuilding Nigeria.
“I decided to dwell on this since the President is the leader of our party. The President has gone ahead to appoint some opposition personalities into key ministries and offices, which is a key example of politics without bitterness. We must commend him for this.
“We need peace and unity if we must achieve success in all our endeavours. No seed of progress can grow where there is a crisis. We need to work as a team. If we work as a team, we will be able to attract the best to our domain, that is the Northwest zone. A house divided against itself cannot stand the test of time.
“Politics is about superior negotiating skills, not pulling him down stunt; those who resulted in that in the past have had themselves to blame. The politics of rising men and women is what actually brought Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to the Presidency and that is a lesson we all must imbibe.
“If we come to support ourselves, rally round the President, build our party and develop our geopolitical zone to enviable height economically and politically, together we will reap the fruit of our labour.
“We must salvage Nigeria and make it a land of prosperity for all of us and our children. We must stand against the words of bitterness and rancour. It must be a new dawn for our geopolitical zone.
“This time we are calling for close consultation and collaboration and the common objective is to work for unity, stability and progress of Nigeria and our party, to make it formidable like the rock of Gibraltar,” Ganduje said.