Boko Haram warned

ABUJA. — Nigeria faces a race against time to tackle its worsening security situation, which has spread in scale and scope due to a lack of political leadership, an influential governor said. Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso said the country was unprepared for the level of violence from Boko Haram Islamists.

“Everyone is tired of our situation now because nobody is safe in this country. Time is running out. Something has to be done, especially in the north-eastern part of this country,” Kwankwaso, a defence minister under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, said on Tuesday.

Kwankwaso is a leading figure in the main opposition All Progressives Congress and is seen as a potential presidential candidate in next year’s elections. He was one of a number of governors from the mainly Muslim north to abandon their ties to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party of President Goodluck Jonathan last year, in part due to the government’s perceived indifference to the north. Kwankwaso said the insurgency was fuelled by social and economic inequalities in the region compared to the richer, oil-producing south.

He said Jonathan, a Christian from southern Bayelsa state, had failed to heed advice and address the problems. — AFP.