Nigeria@59: Only devolution of power will guarantee peace ― Ekweremadu

Former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has reiterated the need for decentralised policing, including state police, with valves against abuse, to enable the country to overcome its security challenges.

Ekweremadu in a statement on the occasion of the nation independence anniversary signed by his media idea,  Uche Anichukwu, the former Deputy Senate President  also called on “leaders at all levels of governance to rededicate themselves to an egalitarian society marked by justice for all, including an equitable distribution of opportunities and amenities as a sure way of securing peace and unity among our citizens across the nation”

The lawmaker made the call in his goodwill message to Nigerians on the occasion of the nation’s 59thindependence anniversary.

He said: “I congratulate Nigerians on the occasion of the 59thIndependence Anniversary celebration. One of the greatest concerns among Nigerians today is the growing insecurity in the land. I believe that the difference between security at independence and now is mainly in the security architecture. We have moved from decentralised policing with national, sub-national, and local policing services to unitary policing owned and controlled solely by the Federal Government.

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“While the plans by the FG to introduce community policing gives an impression of shifting of ground, I doubt that such effort without first decentralising policing to allow states, which can afford it, to set up their own police services, cannot take us anywhere. On the contrary, it is like putting the cart before the horse and the result is very predictable”.

He added that whereas he could easily dust up the Bill for the Establishment of State Police sponsored by him and some of his colleagues in the 8th Senate, he believed that there was first a serious need for the political will and change in mindset for the bill to become law.