Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has expressed the need for further collaboration and strengthening of traditional institutions to engender peace and secure the nation
Osinbajo stated this at the 18th memorial lecture organized by the Sardauna Memorial Foundation with the theme: ‘Reviving the Northern Traditional Institutions, Imperatives on Peace and Security in the North held in Kano state North Western Nigeria.’
He said the traditional leaders are needed in the nation’s collaborative resistance to insecurity because they are the first line of defence against Insecurity.
“The traditional leaders and their people can see and hear what the government can not, so they are very important for intelligence. They are far more important than any modern surveillance technology and that is why we need to work with them.
“The Collaboration between federal, state, local government and the traditional leaders will indeed improve our security in so many areas, including out of school children.
“To revive the traditional institution is to rebuild the trust between the traditional leaders and the people,” said the Vice president.”
According to him, the federal government is working assiduously to ensure that all perpetrators of insecurity in the north and indeed the entire country were speedily prosecuted inline with the extant laws of the country.
“There is the need for collaboration between stakeholders and the Ministry of Justice, so that terrorist and their collaborators can be speedily prosecuted,” said the Vice president.
The guest speaker at the event Justice Sidi Mohammed, who is also the Emir of Lafia said there is the need for the government to renew the social contract with the traditional institutions by giving them their constitutional rights as it was during the colonial era
He said the emergence of the political class water down the rights of the traditional institutions, leading to a disorderly society.
“The erosion of native Police, Courts, prison and the usurp of powers of traditional leaders to appoint trusted chiefs by politicians are part of the current problems.
“Most national problems starts from native problem, which a strong traditional leader can solve, if given the power,” said Justice Sidi
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar said the late SARDAUANA of Sokoto as traditional leader and politician does not involve ethnicity and religiosity in his running of affairs, thereby ensuring Justice and fairness for all. A trait that people need to imbibe in leadership at this time.
He said there is the need to organize more of the Sardauna of Sokoto memorial lectures “for our children to know more about his legacies and imbibe.”
The chairman northern governor’s forum, who is the governor of Plateau state, Simon Lalong called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the proposal sent to them on enhancing the roles of traditional institution, stressing that their advisory roles currently are important in governance but need to be enhanced.
