The Town Hall Meeting on National Security organised by the Federal Government has recommended that, state police should be supported by the National Assembly as well as the House of Assembly in states. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in Abuja.
He said the meeting made the recommendation based on the consensus that state police would give governors better leverage in the handling of security issues within their domains.
Mohammed said the recommendations from the town hall meeting held on April 8 in Kaduna would be presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) at its meeting on Thursday.
Reports indicate that NEC is a decision-making body presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and has all the 36 governors, FCT Minister and some ministers as members.
The minister also disclosed that the town hall meeting recommended decentralization and reformation of the judiciary, adding that this should be done through constitutional amendment. Autonomy for local governments, was also adopted at the town hall meeting.
“Another resolution is that every level of government must ensure that every child of school age has compulsory and free primary education. One of the discussants took us back to 1973 under General Yakubu Gowon regime when there was a national retreat; at that national retreat, it was resolved to come up with just one national pledge.
They pledged to ensure that Nigerians will not go through any civil war again and at the end of that retreat, government came up with this single pledge that all children born after the end of civil war must have free and compulsory primary education.”
Mohammed noted that the call for compulsory and free education was reinforced at the meeting. Mohammed added that acquiring basic education would help in reducing banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and other social vices.
Mohammed, who said he will on Thursday present the recommendations of the Kaduna town hall meeting on national security to the National Economic Council (NEC), explained that the town hall meeting which drew participants from the academia, private sector, and civil society, was to address the nation’s security challenges and the effect on national unity and cohesion.
According to him, the meeting came up with 10 resolutions to address insecurity as well as strengthen national unity and cohesion, adding that there was consensus on the primacy of law and order in governing society. The minister said he would ensure that the resolutions were implemented.
The town hall meeting had as its theme: ‘Setting Benchmarks for Enhanced Security and National Unity in Nigeria’, and was convened by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Mohammed said participants further recommended for the decentralization and reformation of the judiciary through a constitutional amendment, adding that it was also resolved that every level of government must ensure that every child of school age has compulsory and free primary education.
The minister further said the creation of state police was recommended and should be supported by the National Assembly and House of Assembly in states in order to assist governors in handling security challenges within their domains, and traditional rulers were recommended to be given their age-long roles in governance. He said traditional rulers in the past played key roles to maintain peace and security within their domains.
“Another interesting thing that was agreed upon was that under Nigeria’s constitution, Article 15, 3C has provisions encouraging Nigerians to intermarry. Christians are encouraged to marry Muslims, Itsekiri should marry Hausa, Yoruba should marry Igbo, when you have that kind of intermarriage, and it becomes more difficult to break the country. It was also agreed that the way we practice our animal husbandry is not sustainable and that we must establish ranches, grazing reserves with modern amenities like schools, veterinary clinics, and watering holes.”
However, the minister also said one of the resolutions was to grant autonomy to local governments so they could have the means to secure and govern their areas.
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