In his reaction, the Senate President said what the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) is asking for is not only capable of compounding the nation’s present situation, but is akin to partisanship and regionalism in addressing national issues.
Lawan’s comments came two days after the southern governors, who met in Asaba, Delta State, on Tuesday, decried the frightening state of insecurity and other problems across the nation.
The governors, among others, advocated for national dialogue, restructuring of the country, no-open grazing policy in their respective states, warning that the speedy restructuring of the Nigerian nation will help restore peace and prosperity in the country.
While speaking in Abuja after observing the Eid-El-Fitr prayer at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, the Senate President, in a veiled reference to the southern governors, said those elected ought not to champion such calls, but rather concentrate on working hard to first restructure their states.
He said the solutions to the challenges bedevilling the country should come from all leaders at the Federal, State and the Local Government levels, adding that the governors had a share of the blame for security crisis due to the absence of functional local government system.
“Those of us who are elected should not be at the forefront of calling for this kind of thing because, even if you are a governor, you are supposed to be working hard in your state, to ensure that the restructuring you are calling for at the federal level, you have done it in your state as well.
“What you may accuse the Federal Government of, whatever it is; you may also be accused of the same thing in your state.
‘’So, we are supposed to ensure that we have a complete and total way of ensuring that our systems at the federal, state and even local government levels work for the people. We should avoid regionalism,” Lawan said.
On the governors’ call for restructuring, he replied: “I think the time has come for us to take up the challenge and ensure that the local government system functions.
Southern Senators’ Forum lauds governors on security steps
In its reaction, the Southern Senators Forum exonerated the governors in the southern region from blames over their resolve to demand, among others, the restructuring of the country and an immediate ban on open grazing in the southern states.
The forum, in a statement jointly signed by its chairman, Opeyemi Bamidele; secretary, Mathew Urhoghide; and public secretary, Chukwuka Utazi, urged the governors to swiftly follow up their resolutions by immediately approaching the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure their positions on the state of the nation would be thoroughly and decisively addressed through the on-going constitutional review exercise.
The lawmakers submitted in the release entitled, “Insecurity: Southern senators commend and endorse the resolutions of the southern governors,” advised the governors to work with the National Assembly for optimal results.
They stated: “At this critical point of our national life when the economy is being bedevilled by galloping inflation, youth unemployment and insecurity, food security is very crucial to mitigate the effects of these diverse evils on the citizens.
“Available records have shown that attaining food security status would remain a mirage in the south owing to the ravaging effect of outdated livestock grazing policy being unleashed on farmlands by some unscrupulous herders.
“Most appalling were the seemingly unabated kidnapping, raping and killing of our people by suspected herdsmen, who have become bandits heating up the system.
‘’With this uniform resolve by our governors to initiate no-open grazing policy, the region will return to its peaceful and agriculturally self-sufficient status it had assumed even long before Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914.”
Commending the governor for reflecting on the expediency and the need for speedy restructuring of the nation, they said this will not only help to remove the venom that had permeated the land on account of alleged neglect of certain sections of the country, but also usher in equality, equity and justice in the way the country is being run, wipe out ethnic tension, restore peace and stability, and ward off agitations for secession that are now gaining traction across the land.
Restructuring, Open Grazing … Endless fury
According to them, a swift follow up of the resolutions by the governors would ensure that “restructuring, state policing and the jettisoning of archaic traditional grazing methods, which fall short of global best practice standards and a potential threat to our national cohesion and peace, are thoroughly and decisively addressed through the ongoing constitutional review exercise.”
The senators submitted that such deft and unanimous policy would help in reigning in those hiding under cattle grazing to unleash terror of kidnapping and killing on the residents of the region.
Applauding the steps taken by the governors as a buffer to wanton destruction of farmlands, kidnappings and carnages, the senators lamented how the southern farmers were losing hundreds of millions of naira to plundering of food crops through encroachments on farmlands and exposing the region to famine and acute food scarcity.
