***Seeks constitutional ammendment to formerly bring them into governance structure
Apparently piqued by the escalating insecurity that is ravaging every part of the country, the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice, (CEPEJ) has urged the Federal Government to empower traditional rulers in fight against the menace.
The group proposed that constitutional amendment be effected to formally include traditional rulers in the nation’s government structure.
They are of the position that granting them a formal role in governance will help to harness their insights and expertise to develop more effective strategies for crime prevention and community policing.
The National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Chief Mulade Sheriff, who stated this at a news conference addressed by the group in Abuja on the state of insecurity in Nigeria, on Wednesday, said, by so doing it would foster national economic growth and stability.
He said if the country fail to kill insecurity, it might swallow everyone
“In view of the high level of insecurity in Nigeria in recent time, accentuated by the spate of killings and kidnappings across the country, we hereby call on the government at all levels, and state apparatuses to consider the role of traditional institutions in the nation’s security architecture, in the fight against insecurity, so as to foster national economic growth and stability.
“CEPEJ is a foremost civil society organisation with over 20 years experience and impeccable track record across the nation on peacebuilding and peaceful coexistence, human rights protection, effective security intelligence gathering, and environmental justice advocacy,
“One of the surest means to fight and end insecurity in Nigeria is to engage the traditional rulers with the responsibility of ensuring that their respective domains are totally free from insecurity issues.
“It is important to note here that traditional rulers, as custodians of culture and traditions in their kingdoms, are more familiar and abreast with their domains and environments.
“This places them in a strategic position as leaders that can effectively take charge and control of their areas.
“Therefore, they should be given the responsibility to protect lives and property in their domains in collaboration with security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
“I strongly believe that such collaboration will go a long way towards bringing the security challenges under control.
“It is also worthy of note that bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements hide in a locality/place, within the domain of a traditional ruler, where they carry out their nefarious activities which have become an international embarrassment to Nigeria. The insecurity issue equally affects the country’s economic growth.”
Sheriff said the group was determined to forward to the National Assembly Committee on Constitution Review, a memorandum on the need to empower monarchs to have security votes to tackle insecurity in their domain.
He said, “In the fight against insecurity, traditional rulers, as stakeholders, should be given the authority to also secure their kingdoms against political violence.
“This means that security votes should be allocated to them, as they are in better positions to fight against insecurity in their kingdoms if the country’s leadership truly wants to end insecurity in the country.
“In other words, traditional institutions in the country should be strengthened if Nigeria must be insecurity-free so as to achieve a stable economy that will attract international and local investors.”
He said, the Federal Government should take proactive steps to ensure that traditional rulers are at the forefront of the fight against insecurity nationwide.
“Efforts should be made to bring them on board and give them the opportunity to play their parts towards rescuing our dear country from criminals, and restoring peace in line with Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda. No price is too much to pay for peace,” he aaid