The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has said the marching order given by President Muhammadu Buhari to service chiefs to hunt, pursue, and speak to terrorists in the language they understand has started yielding the desired results.
The minister said this on Tuesday in Kano during a two-day National Conference on Culture, Peace, and National security, organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO).
“The military has recorded successes in neutralising the activities of bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, and other forms of criminality across the country,” he said.
Mohammed, who was represented by the Director, International Cultural Relations, Memunat Idu-lah, also revealed that the federal government had sent two bills to the National Assembly on the transmission of explosives, as well as the control of small arms and light weapons.
“Also, the present administration is having constructive and meaningful engagement with member states of ECOWAS, and other regional blocks to decisively tackle insecurity in Nigeria,” he said.
The minister stated that skewed reporting, as well as the phenomenon of fake news, hate speech, and misinformation had contributed to the worsening security situation in Nigeria.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NICO, Ado Muhammad Yahuza, disclosed that the conference was the flagship programme of the institute to conceptualise the relationship between culture and national development.
“To achieve that, the institute every year focuses on important stakeholders and sensitizes them. This is to appreciate their unique role in promoting the culture of peace and non-violence in Nigeria,” he said.
