KANO metropolis may have now assumed an unenviable status of an 'urban jungle' in Nigeria, according to the report of a panel led by elder statesman, Dr. Magaji Dambatta.Dambatta is the Chairman of the consultative committee established by the Kano State government in the wake of the mayhem unleashed by members of the Boko Haram sect in the city.Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos Maj-Gen. Adamu Buba Marwa, has promised protection for all those residing within the Division's Area of Operational Responsibility (AOR).Also, former Bauchi State Deputy Governor Abdulmalik Mahmud said yesterday that he had predicted long ago that unemployment would pose a big threat to security in the country.Presenting the report to Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso at the Government House, Dambatta remarked that the new found status of the Kano metropolis had now exposed it to frightening security challenges.He added that the virtual collapse of governance structure at the community level which had made it impossible to keep track on activities in local communities, abuse of town planning regulations, illegal motor parks, petty trading premises and army of motorcyclists among others had contributed in turning Kano into an urban jungle.Dambatta also identified the uncontrolled influx of foreigners, huge rural 'urban migration, unemployed youth and grinding poverty among the populace as some of the factors worsening the security situation in the metropolis.He further listed other security threats to include, high birth rate among the poor, corruption and the emergence of unplanned settlements that harbour undesirable elements across the metropolis.The panel acknowledged that inadequate training, obsolete working materials and low morale among police officers as well as other security operatives were among factors impeding the efforts to ensure security of lives and property in the city .The panel therefore called for concerted efforts between the Federal and Kano State governments to tackle the problem of poverty and unemployment bedeviling the citizenry.Following the intractable security situation in the North-East region of the country, the Army headquarters recently ordered the GOC to move the Division's tactical headquarters to Gombe to properly co-ordinate and check the activities of criminals within the region.Marwa, on relocation to Gombe, went on a tour of the AOR during which he warned that the Division will not condone any act of criminality within its AOR.He advised all criminals of whatever shade to embrace peace, adding that the soldiers trained as Quick Response Group (QRG) had been fully deployed to fish out criminal elements within the AOR to face the consequences of their actions.Abdulmalik who spoke to journalists in Bauchi said that he foresaw the danger in 2003 that the high unemployment level would metamorphose into economic problems that would in turn become a threat to lives and property.
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