Stakeholders who were foremost think tanks in Nigeria, since 1979 have called on the government to allow the local government to function in order to address security issues, noting the traditional institution and the local government are key actors in solving the present security challenges in the country.
They made the called at the 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), which was held at the prestigious hall of the National Universities Commission in Abuja and attended by all AANI members at home and abroad features briefs by national officers, issues of national importance were discussed and solutions with implementation strategies were suggested by participants. The AGM also had members discussed about their welfare.
The President of the alumni Amb. Emmanuel Okafor said Nigeria was facing a twin challenge of insecurity and economic difficulties which has 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 across the country in line with our overall objective of working towards a better society "
Speaking further,he said "we believe that the change of attitude and efforts required to rescue Nigeria from the current security challenges is a collective responsibility that requires broad based commitment and consistent implementation of comprehensive national development plans"
Delivering his paper titled “Security is a Collective Responsibility", the Director General, Nigerian Army Resources Centre, Major General Garba Wahab (Rtd) advocated constitutional role for traditional rulers and local government autonomy to address rising insecurity across the country.
He said the world was in a state of global crisis as not part was spared of insecurity. He said over 160m arms were in circulation,adding that efforts at solving security challenges must be at the local level.
He said government's interference in the traditional institution was weakening it's ability to discharge desired roles. He noted that the era of blaming challenges on colonial masters was over.
Wahab while calling for good and inclusive governance also called for social justice to deter intending criminals. He noted that impunity was fueling enabling crime as people know there won't be consequence for actions.
He said "People must know that if caught they will face the music. He stressed that governance must be inclusive, which give every segment of the society a sense of belonging. We need to go to the grassroots level, 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 government 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.. We we are living in the past where they've been removed from the constitution based on they've been used by the colonial masters and even now the allegation of their being used by politicians.We cannot continue to live like that".
He called on Nigerians to challenge the status quo "Once there are structures to monitor and to punish those who don't perform, then things will start being in place.
"So you must take steps that will make sure that everybody is involved in security, which is a collective responsibility".
Also speaking, Dr Mike Ejiofor ,a security consultant said Nigeria does not lack solutions to it's challenge but the will to implement them.
He said government's interference in the traditional institution was causing problems. He therefore, advocated constitutional amendment to give the traditional institutions to provide local security to its people.
He said contrary to reports that some states lack resources to fund state police,no state in Nigeria is without one form of state police in form of vigilantes or the order poorly equipped to face well armed adversaries.
He said " I support the creation of state,no state in Nigeria is without one form of state police or the other under the guise of vigilantes without sophisticated weapons to fight criminals armed with more sophisticated arms"
The Executive Director,Centre for fiscal transparency and public integrity Malam Umar Yakubu said the solution to Nigeria's security challenges lies with the various alumni and charged them to come up with workable solution to address them..
In a goodwill message,the President, alumni association of defence college ANDEC Air Cdre Darlington Abdullahi (Rtd) said the nation's security challenges calls on all stakeholders to sit back and brainstorm on how best to solve them.
He said though alot has been done,alot still needs to be done to make Nigeria peace.
He pledged to partner with AANI and all relevant stakeholders to collectively address the security challenges.
The Executive Director,Centre for fiscal transparency and public integrity Malam Umar Yakubu said the solution to Nigeria's security challenges lies with the various alumni and charged them to come up with workable solution to address them.
The Alumni Association of the National Institute is composed of all those who successfully attended the one-year Senior Executive (SEC) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, the foremost think tank in Nigeria, since 1979.
By SpyeTV