Govt Betrayal Root Cause Of Violence, says US Ambassador
- Details
- Category: Opinions/Interviews
- Published on Friday, 06 July 2012 19:23
- Written by Admin
- Hits: 330
The American ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, declared yesterday that the betrayal of people by governments and the low level of government presence provided criminals and terrorists a platform to launch insurrection being witnessed across northern Nigeria.
“Whenever and wherever a population feels its government is not providing an adequate quality of life it becomes complacent to criminals whether they are vandals or terrorists,” the ambassador said in a paper entitled “Leadership, Good Governance and Generative Cities as a Pre-requisite for National Development,” he delivered at a public lecture organised by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos.
Mr. McCulley remarked that, contrary to the dominant notion in the media that the US government believes poverty causes terrorism, the actual cause of terrorism was failure of governments to provide the needs of citizens.
He saw similarities between New York in the 1980s and northern Nigeria today, noting that there was a common feeling of betrayal by their governments who had failed to provide for the needs of citizens such as good schools and adequate infrastructure.
Ambassador McCulley called on the federal government to be more pro-active in providing infrastructural development in the north as a means of tackling the Boko Haram problem and reiterated US government’s support for the improvement of schools, health programmes and infrastructure in northern Nigeria as part of a comprehensive approach to challenges posed by the Boko Haram sect.
On his part, the acting vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahman Ade-Bello, thanked the US government for the support offered to staff and students of the university for fellowships and academic exchanges from organisations and foundations across the length and breadth of United States of America.
The VC appealed to eminent personalities that witnessed the occasion to avail themselves of the diverse skills and competences of researchers available at the university, noting that the institution is open to progressive collaborations.
