Segun Awofadeji
The immediate-past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will soon overcome its security challenges.
He said there was no nation on earth that has not been tried or tested, as every one of them had experienced moments of national peril.
Delivering a keynote address at the House of Justice Annual Summit in Kaduna on the theme: ‘Leadership, Governance and National Security’, at the weekend, Dogara urged Nigerians not to rest on their oars until the country overcome its challenges.
He said: “These security challenges, as deeply disconcerting as they are, are not strange. There is no nation on earth that has not been tried or tested. Everyone of them has come to moments of national peril. We can put an end to the moral vandalism that flows from all spots of bedlam across the face of the country.
“No season last forever, therefore, this cup shall pass if we all do our bit, such as we are doing at this summit, in order to keep the promise of this great country alive. For us to leave Nigeria, our country that we cherish and hold dear, to others to defend is not only cowardice, it is apostasy to the Nigerian creed. For those who think Nigeria has arrived at a dead end, let us disappoint them by turning the end into a bend. We can do it!”
In dealing with sensitive matters of national security, the former Speaker said: “We must address the root causes of insecurity rather than concentrating on the manifestations.”
He suggested that: “The electoral system should be rejigged to ensure the emergence of credible leaders. Leadership that will answer to big questions such as recently posed by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley: ‘When will Leaders Lead?”
Other measures he proffered included that “the sanctions provided for in the Electoral Act should be activated to deal with electoral fraud and instill public confidence in the process.
“The national security architecture must be reformed to remove the existing rigid centralisation and allow for more rapid deployment while at the same time insulating it from abuse. The national security architecture must be deployed proactively rather reactively as it’s the present situation.”
The former Speaker said “The full weight of the constitutional provision for Federal Character in conjunction with the provisions of the Federal Character (Establishment) Act and the inherent powers of the legislature should be brought to bear on its implementation to ensure equity and justice to all. With the sanctions provided for under the charge of non-justifiability should be rested.”
“The police to the population ratio should be enhanced as a matter of great urgency while training and motivation should be stepped up.
“All public as well as private sector regulatory bodies should ensure that the tenets of good governance are strictly observed in their respective spheres.”
Dogara believed that: “The farmer-herder challenge must be handled in a manner that promotes cohabitation as was previously the case and criminality seeking to hide under the guise of religion and culture must be isolated and dealt with decisively.
“Nigerians must accept the reality that the herder problem is not a Fulani problem alone, it is a Nigerian problem. Unless we elevate it to the level we elevated the Niger Delta militancy question and dealt with as a national problem, I am afraid, we will never find a solution to the problem”.
