Vice President, Sen Kashim Shettima has stated that the best way to resolve the worsening insecurity in the South Eastern region of the country is by applying a non-kinetic approach.
He stated this on Tuesday when he received a delegation led by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Under the auspices of the Peace In South East Project (PISE-P), the delegation visited Shettima to present the initiative and invited him to launch the project that proposes a non-kinetic solution to the crisis in the South East.
The vice president said that unless the country wants to engage in an endless war of attrition, all issues affecting the region must be sorted out on the negotiation table.
Shettima further explained the wisdom of adopting a non-kinetic approach in addressing the security situation in the South East, saying it would save the region from endless war.
He said: “This approach is the most beautiful I have seen so far. We need to build bridges; there is a need for a handshake, that way, those who have not been radicalized can be captured.
“Unless we want to engage in an endless war of attrition, a non-kinetic solution to the crisis in the South East must be explored and deployed. The most atrocious of wars are, at the end of the day, sorted out on the negotiation table.
“It is how you build bridges that will determine how far you go as a people and society. We have to reach out to the youths; we have to empower them. Once we empower them, the crisis, the agitation and insecurity will vanish”.
Earlier in his address, the Deputy Speaker reiterated the call for a non-kinetic approach to addressing the South East region’s security challenges.
Kalu expressed optimism that the Peace in South East Project could bring hope to the region, similar to how other parts of the country have seen improvement.
The lawmaker emphasized the need for new solutions, acknowledging that past approaches have not yielded the desired results.
He said: “We understand that many zones in the country face similar security challenges.
“However, PISE-P proposes a non-kinetic approach to address these issues that have impacted the economy of the South East and Nigeria.”
