Christian Empowerment Forum, CEF, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has called on the Federal Government to improve security and power supply, attributing most late-night crimes to lack of electricity in the country.
The Executive Director of the forum, Ifunanya Ogbonnaya, made the call on Friday in commemoration of the June 12 Democracy Day celebration.
According to him, lack of security and poverty amongst many others were factors that needed to be tackled to a halt by the government.
“With the current COVID-19 global crisis, a lot of families have been thrown into untold hardship and this is because there was already a certain level of poverty in the land prior to the pandemic.
“Jobs have been lost, means of sustenance and livelihood have been taken abruptly from many and the prices of commodities are still on the rise.
“All these and many more can be said to be parts of the many reasons for the increasing crime rate, which shouldn’t be.
“The government should rise to its task, create safe environment for agriculture investors to freely and safely operate from their farms to the market because this seems to be the only escape route for many people now.
“The government should also regulate the prices of consumables, especially locally produced commodities. All these and many more are the dividends of democracy that the citizens should be celebrating today,” he said.
The director said that if the two major challenges were effectively handled, then other sectors of government would begin to thrive and the government would be able to record more measurable growth and development.
He urged the government to address the various plights of its citizens and put smiles and laughter on the faces of the average Nigerian.
NAN