Donald Duke Rejects ‘Islamic Terrorists’ Label, Blames Libya Collapse, Poor Economy for Nigeria’s Insecurity

The presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has called for short-, medium- and long-term measures to tackle Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, arguing that insecurity is driven by deeper economic and governance failures.

Duke, who spoke on the country’s security situation, said he disagreed with the description of terrorists operating in Nigeria as “Islamic terrorists,” insisting that their activities should not be associated with Islam.

“We call them Islamic terrorists. I don’t like that phrase because I don’t think they are driven by Islam,” Duke said.

“The Islam I know is different. They just use that connotation to describe them. Rather, I think these are destructive elements.”

According to the former Cross River State governor, the collapse of Libya contributed significantly to the proliferation of arms across Nigeria’s borders, particularly into the northern part of the country.

He said the immediate priority should be to tackle kidnapping, banditry and terrorism, while also addressing the underlying conditions that fuel insecurity.

“Right now, you have got to deal with the security problems as they exist today kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and all that,” he said.

“But even beyond that, those things are consequences of other things. They are consequences of a very poor economy and, of course, the failure to properly manage our borders.”

Duke said the activities of armed groups went beyond religious ideology, arguing that some of them were building economic networks by imposing taxes and exploiting communities under their control.

“You can see that when they go into communities, they collect taxes and do other things. It is all geared towards collecting or building a resource base for themselves,” he said.

Duke Advocates Productivity, Border Technology
For the medium and long term, Duke said the government must focus on making Nigerians more productive, warning that people who lack economic opportunities would continue to devise alternative means of survival.

He advocated greater investment in local production and the deployment of modern technology to strengthen Nigeria’s borders and curb the movement of arms and criminal elements into the country.

Mining Can Revive Northern Economy — Duke
On how to revive the economy of Northern Nigeria, Duke said a government under his leadership would properly structure mining activities and ensure that states and local communities benefit from the sector.

He argued that the region’s mineral resources could provide a major economic opportunity beyond agriculture, but stressed that mining must be properly regulated and secured.

“The rush to produce oil is not synonymous with wealth. You must have commercial quantities and all that. I sometimes think it is overplayed,” he said.

Duke said he believed the North’s greatest economic potential, apart from agriculture, lies in its mineral deposits.

“I think the real wealth of the North, beyond agriculture, is in the mineral deposits there,” he said.

He criticised the largely artisanal nature of mining in some parts of the country, saying it prevents communities and governments from adequately benefiting from the resources.

“There must be a structured way of mining. Today, it is artisanal, and the broader community, the border communities, society and the nation itself do not adequately benefit from those resources,” he said.

Using Zamfara’s gold deposits as an example, Duke said the sector could generate significant wealth if properly developed, while warning that insecurity had also affected mining activities.

“Take, for instance, the gold in Zamfara. It probably has — I don’t know — perhaps as much gold as all of Ghana does,” he said.

He added that insecurity had made it difficult to attract serious investment into the mining sector.

“But mining has also attracted banditry because Nigeria is largely an unpoliced state,” Duke said.
‘I Would Make Each State an Economic Entity’
Duke proposed greater economic autonomy for states, saying each state should be encouraged to identify, develop and maximise its natural resources.

“So, I would make each state an economic entity. I think it would encourage states and their governments to focus on the minerals they have,” he said.

He said his administration would work with state governments to conduct comprehensive assessments of mineral resources and establish proven reserves to make the sector more attractive to investors.

“If I were in charge, alongside the states, we would carry out an evaluation. I know some of this has already been done. We would evaluate what is available in each state and go further to determine the proven reserves,” he said.

According to him, establishing proven reserves for minerals such as columbite and lithium would provide investors with greater confidence and encourage large-scale development.

“Once you have developed it to that level, you make it more attractive for investors to come in.

This should be a joint venture between the state and federal governments because the revenues from those resources will be shared by both levels of government,” he said.

Duke, however, stressed that security remains a critical condition for attracting investment, drawing a comparison with the experience of oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.

“But nobody is going to invest if there is no security,” he said.

He noted that the breakdown of security in parts of the Niger Delta, compounded by poverty, had contributed to the withdrawal of some investors and a shift towards offshore oil production.

“The investors there — the oil companies and international companies — moved out, and they now prefer producing oil from the deep sea, which is considered safer,” Duke said.