The Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, has revealed that his administration is deploying the services of hunters, vigilantes, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and regular security forces to tackle insecurity across the state.
The governor, represented by the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, spoke during an inspection tour of projects in the state by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, in collaboration with the Presidential Media Team, across some local government areas (LGAs) in Kogi West Senatorial District.
He said that the deployment of kinetic security forces would make it almost impossible for non-state actors to attack schools in the state, except those in Miracle Centres, emphasising that this was made possible by the funds made available to states by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
While explaining the security arrangements put in place to protect the state, he said: “As you are entering the school premises, you will notice that we have a robust security architecture. The local government chairmen are on top of their game and the State government has also recruited people to into vigilante service, they are trained and armed. Before now they operated as ad-hoc, but this governor has integrated them into the mainstream civil service.”
“They are now in charge of security. We have the local hunters, the vigilante service and the police as the kinetic part of the security architecture. We are also deploying technology into it, and right from the control room in Lokoja, they are picking every movement. With what happened in Olowa, Dekina LGA, we have been able to integrate technology into the security measures. The students are very safe so long as they remain in government designated centres not Miracles Centres.
“The two critical pillars of this administration, education and health, are topmost. The government is not just providing the health facilities, equipment and structure, it also knows that it will create room for affordability and to access it, which means taking it to the grassroots.
“Government has invested so much in recruiting teachers, buying books, equipping the laboratories, making the school fees free and the people have already started receiving the dividends with the high statistics of parents pulling their children from private to public schools,” he said.
In his assessment of the inspection, Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Special Duties and Director of Media and Publicity for the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said President Tinubu has performed well enough to deserve re-election in 2027 after freeing up resources for state governors to facilitate the landmark projects they have executed.
He said: “We have gone round Kogi West on inspection of projects and Governor Ododo’s intervention in the areas of primary healthcare, road infrastructure across some local governments. We were told that the intervention covers eight out of the 21 LGAs. We saw the achievements in rehabilitation and building of model schools and in the area of erosion control too.”
“For us, this speaks to the character, the person, governance philosophy of Governor Ododo. If you look at him very well, you will know that he is very humble, has a sense of fairness, a sense of moderation and speaks to the projects we have inspected so far. The development of inner roads in Mopa, according to the Information Commissioner, was the first of its kind, which speaks of a governor who is egalitarian, and who wants development across the board. He also purchased 30 fully-equipped ambulances across the state.
“We also saw what has been done in just two years at Kogi State University in Kabba and it confirms that the governor has shown clearly that he believes in grassroots development, education, and human empowerment.
“All these have been possible due to the reforms the Federal Government has put in place in freeing resources to the nationals and it equally confirms that President Tinubu had done so well to deserve a second term because the achievements will speak for him to get re-elected,” he said.
(The Sun)