The Deputy President of the
Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has, once again, stressed the need for
descentrlised policing and economy if the country must wriggle out of its
numerous security and economic challenges.
He also stressed the need for
respect for the rule of law and ensure inclusive governance.
He made the assertions at the
South East Economic and Security Summit held at the Government House, Enugu, on
Thursday.
The Deputy President of the Senate
said: “On the issue of security, I believe that whatever we say, unless we
restructure our security architecture, we will continue to have problems and
the simple suggestion is that this is time for us to think along the path of a
decentralised policing.
“Today, we have challenges of
kidnapping; we have challenges of insurgency; we have challenges of menace by
suspected herdsmen; we also have militancy; and all these have never been
resolved by about 340,000 police officers policing about 170 million people. It
does not happen anywhere in the world”.
Ekweremadu maintained that every
part of Nigeria should be allowed to have the type of policing system that
suits their needs if the nation truly wants to secure its borders and every
part thereof.
The Senator also faulted the
country’s economic structure, insisting that “there is no way you can run the
type of economy we are running in a federal system and expect to make progress”.
He added: “The answer to it is
restructuring so that every part of Nigeria will develop in accordance with its
potentials, be it economic, intellectual, agricultural, or other potentials and
then be able to contribute to the commonwealth.
“As long as we have a unified
system of economy, it is not going to work. We must find a way of ensuring that
we use our natural endowments essentially for the development of the respective
parts of Nigeria in the interest of the country”.
The Deputy President of the Senate
also harped on the need for rule of law as, according to him, it remains a
major factor for foreign investors and protection of protecting the rights of
citizens and corporate entities.
“We must give everybody his due; the
constitution is clear in Chapter 4 on the numerous fundamental rights that are the
entitlements of every part and every person in Nigeria and one of them is
the issue of liberty”, he said.
Ekweremadu stressed that “liberty is
something that God gave to us because it is an inalienable right and for you to
take away somebody’s liberty, it must be in a very extreme circumstance, and in
accordance with the law.
“So, if the court says someone
should be released from detention, government must do everything possible to
respect that and everybody who is accused of an offence must as a matter of
necessity, and in good time, have his day in court; and this reminds me of the
continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu. Whatever his offence, he must have his day
in court and if the court says he be released, he should accordingly be
released”.
Ekweremadu further expressed
serious concerns over the exclusion of parts of the country in certain key
areas of governance and security architecture of the country.
He observed: “In a country such as
Nigeria where we have different ethnic groups; where people speak different
languages and have different religions, it is important that every part of
Nigeria should be included in the governance of this country.
“Today, as I speak, there is no
Igbo man in the commanding heights of our security sector and so they do not
attend Security Council meetings. In the top echelon of the governance of this
country, the Igbos are absent”.
He, however, said he was “not
going to make any request because the President is not here and he is not
represented, but I will just speak my mind on matters like these and these are
things we need to think about because any part of Nigeria or the world that
feels unjustly treated will never be interested in peace”.
He added it was high time “to
rethink on how we address the marginalisation and non inclusiveness of the
Igbos in the governance of this country”.
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