By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Director-General, Nigerian Army Resources Centre (NARC), retired Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab says allowing traditional rulers and local government councils to function optimally will greatly reduce insecurity at the grassroots.
Wahab made the call in a paper titled “Security a Collective Responsibility” presented at the 44th Annual General Meeting of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), on Saturday in Abuja.
He said solving security challenges would be most effective at the local level.
According to him, government interference in traditional institutions and local councils is weakening their ability to discharge their roles effectively.
“To address insecurity, we need to go to the grassroots, the local government, because we want everybody to be involved at the local government level.
“People know themselves and so we need to get that clear and the governors should and must allow local governments, 774 of them, to function and perform effectively.
“If that is done, it becomes easier for us to get people to be involved and you cannot do that without the traditional institutions because they command so much respect within their localities.”
The DG also called for good and inclusive governance as well as social justice to deter criminality.
He said that impunity also fuel crime as long as people know there won’t be consequence for their action.
According to him, governance must be inclusive to give every segment of the society a sense of belonging.
He called on Nigerians to challenge the status quo, adding that once there are structures to monitor and punish those who don’t perform their assigned responsibilities, things will be better.
“So you must take steps that will make sure that everybody is involved in security, which is a collective responsibility,” he added.
In a goodwill message, the President, Alumni Association of Defence College (ANDEC), retired Air Cdre Darlington Abdullahi, said the nation’s security challenges required all stakeholders to agree on the best approach to solve them.
Abdullahi said that even though a lot had been done in that direction, more still needed to be done to make Nigeria peaceful.
He pledged to partner with AANI and other stakeholders to collectively address the security challenges bedeviling the country.
Also, Dr Mike Ejiofor, a Security Consultant, said that Nigeria does not lack solutions to its challenges but the will to implement them.
Ejiofor said that government’s interference in the traditional institution was exacerbating the security problems.
He advocated for constitutional amendment to give traditional rulers powers to provide local security in their domains.
According to him, contrary to reports that some states lack resources to fund state police, all states in Nigeria are funding vigilante groups.
“I support the creation of state police but I urge the president and governors to put appropriate measures in place before establishing it,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Director, Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Malam Umar Yakubu, said the solution to Nigeria’s security challenges lie with the alumni of various security institutions.
He charged them to come up with workable solutions to address the security challenges.
The President of AANI, Amb. Emmanuel Okafor, said the twin challenges of insecurity and economic difficulties had created social tension including street protests and looting of food items.
He said the association as part of its contribution to restore normalcy, was partnering with various stakeholders to promote good governance and sustainable development for a better society.
He said the alumni association believed that there should be change of attitude to ensure collective action against the current insecurity in the country.
According to him, there should be broad based commitment and consistent implementation of comprehensive national development plans to make positive impact on the lives of Nigerians. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Maharazu Ahmed
