Nigeria’s first astronaut, Owolabi Salis, has called on President Bola Tinubu to pass a law prohibiting politicians from using thugs and hooligans for security purposes.
Speaking via a statement, Salis lamented that most electorates are discouraged from voting due to the presence of thugs.
He advised that politicians should be encouraged to hire registered security companies or seek police protection instead of relying on individuals who put the safety of the citizenry at risk.
Salis cited examples from developed countries where such practices are rare, contributing to a more stable political environment.
He appealed to individuals, pressure groups and NGOs to push for this law, emphasising the need for a safer Nigeria.
“It is this same nagging issue of thuggery and hooliganism that deters quite a huge chunk of the electorate who are often afraid to come out and vote for fear that their safety may be on danger,” he said.
According to him, “These unscrupulous politicians would recruit thugs as their private army, equip them with guns, arms and ammunition, buy them drugs and intoxicants that turn them wild, vicious and enraged because it is believed that the more violent they are, the more effective they will be in discharging their errands with untamed audacity.
“However, after using them, they dump them because they never had any enduring interest in them in the first place, beyond using them to achieve their ambition.
“The consequences of getting them dumped and not usefully engaged is that they turn their weapons into self-serving tools for criminal activities like terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and violence.”
Speaking further, he said, “What these Politicians don’t know is that there are spiritual repercussions to perpetrating evils which tells with adverse effects on the generations of those involved just as it also affects the society, because a society ruled by the unjust can never know peace or sanity. For instance, if you are a politician and you have been involved in using thugs and bandits to kill and harass people without any just cause, as the majority of our politicians often do, you or your generation will eventually pay for it, whether sooner or later.”
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