IBB backs state police, says it will work well

Former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida yesterday threw his weight behind the calls for the establishment of state police, saying he believed the state police can work in the country.The former president, who expressed his views at a press briefing in Minna yesterday as part of activities to mark his 71st birthday today, said the country must not remain stagnant.'There is the need for us to go forward; I do not think there is anything wrong with the state police and I believe that the state police will work', he said.Babangida also wondered why the fear of the state police that manifested in the 50s and 60s was still haunting the country because of the native authority police that were used to intimidate political opponents during the pre-independence and First Republic political era.He equally dismissed the fear entertained in some quarters that governors would abuse the good intention for the establishment of state police, saying 'I don't think the incumbent governors can use state police to intimidate anybody. Honestly, the fear is unfounded'.Speaking on his relationship with the present government, the former military president said he is in good term with President Goodluck Jonathan. He said it was part of his cordial relationship with the present government that even brought him together with former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently on how to proffer solution to the present security predicament bedeviling the country.'We knew who we are, let me tell you, if there is one man that believes in the unity of this country is Olusegun Obasanjo and whose ideals I share', IBB said.The former leader also said the lingering security challenges in the country are not only peculiar to Nigeria and that most of the developed nations went through similar circumstances. 'The fact is that you press people have not done enough study, enough investigation to find the real cause of the insurgency and other violent communal clashes across the country', he said.Babangida accused the media of his seeming face-off with Chief Edwin Clark, saying Clark had been his friend for many years and that they also have mutual respect for one another. 'Clark is my friend; I know him for the past 35 years', he said.Speaking on his future political career, Babangida reiterated his position of quitting active politics, saying by 2015 when he will be 74 he would be too old for running round the country seeking for political support.
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