The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has once again,
frowned at the incessant attacks in Igbo land and some other parts of
Nigeria by suspected herdsmen, and called on affected states to pass
legislations restricting cattle rearing to modern ranches, while also
setting up Forest Rangers to enforce such laws.
Similarly, he maintained that unless
Nigeria was restructured, to make it more efficient and productive, it
would be difficult for the country to wriggle out of security
challenges, pervasive poverty, and retarded growth, as successive
leaders would only be dealing with the symptoms, not the root causes of a
festering illness.
Ekweremadu spoke at the weekend in New
York, the United States of America, during the 2016 Convention of the
World Igbo Congress (WIC)
He, however, said while the country is
awaiting the much-needed restructuring, the incessant havocs wreaked by
suspected herdsmen was unacceptable because they had monumental
socio-economic consequences on the nation.
Commending the efforts of various state
governments at managing the humanitarian crisis resulting from the
attacks and ensuring there was no total breakdown of law and order, the
senator emphasised that every legitimate step must be taken to end the
menace and avoid a dangerous situation where the people begin to resort
to self-help.
He said: “Governments of various states
in Igbo land and indeed other parts of the country should immediately
consider enacting legislations that confine cattle-rearing to modern
ranches as obtainable in developed societies. In fact, our governments
could go a step further to invest in constructing and leasing out modern
ranches.
“This will produce healthier animals,
give better products, provide employment, added value to the farm
products, and help in promoting peaceful co-existence as well as sifting
armed bandits and terrorists from real farmers doing legitimate
business.”
Ekweremadu however, warned that
enforcement of such measures should not be left entirely in the hands of
the federal security agencies.
“Sadly, when you enact laws to checkmate
the menace, as Ekiti State has commendably done, you will still rely on
the same security institutions to enforce them. This is the dilemma.
“Therefore, our state governments should take further step by ensuring that such legislations provide for enforcement bodies, such as Forest Rangers, which will consistently comb the forests to ensure that those who run foul of the laws are arrested and speedily prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.”
“Therefore, our state governments should take further step by ensuring that such legislations provide for enforcement bodies, such as Forest Rangers, which will consistently comb the forests to ensure that those who run foul of the laws are arrested and speedily prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.”
He regretted that “successive military
regimes reneged on the core ingredients of a federal structure agreed
upon by our founding fathers, at various constitutional conferences
leading up to independence, as the basis of the Nigerian union”
He further stated: “Over the years, we
have moved from a strong and viable three-regional federal structure to a
weak, spendthrift, and unwieldy 36-state structure; we moved from a
decentralised police system that allowed the federating units to take
greater charge of security of life and property in their territories to a
centralised police system in which one man at the centre pretends to be
in full charge of security of lives and property in the creeks of the
Niger Delta, the cocoa farms of the South-west, the expansive land mass
of the North, and the hinterlands of the South-east.
“We also moved from fiscal federalism,
which encouraged productivity and competitive development to a feeding
bottle federalism that runs on free oil money, encouraging indolence,
corruption, and lack of creativity in governance.
“Now you can see why the cost of
governance is so high; why states can no longer pay salaries; why
neither the federal government nor the federating units cared to invest,
but lived off their allocations like lottery proceeds over the years;
why it is difficult for a state governor to sack rampaging suspected
herdsmen; and why those who have the authority to call the security
agencies to action to put a full stop to the menace may not be quick in
their response,” he added.
Ekweremadu called on Ndigbo in the
diaspora to join in shaping the ongoing debate on restructuring in
Nigeria, because “it is at the heart of the forward-movement.”
He regretted that efforts and calls to
restructure the country had always fallen on deaf ears because some
people felt favoured by the current arrangement, insisting that the
message should be continually passed that “he who pins another to the
floor is also detaining himself.
“With good faith and realistic
restructuring, every part of Nigeria, Igbo land inclusive, will explode
in prosperity, the expected initial challenges notwithstanding; and the
good thing is that we can set a timeline and adopt an incremental
approach to allay unfounded fears and misgivings that have held us
down,” he added.
Ekweremadu commended the Igbo in the
diaspora, especially the WIC for its efforts towards the development of
Igbo land in particular and Nigeria in general.
0 comments:
Post a Comment