By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The 10th National Assembly will amend the constitution to create specific roles for traditional rulers as part of government efforts at all levels, to tackle insecurity in the country.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, pledged when monarchs across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory paid him a courtesy visit yesterday.
He was responding to a request by the traditional rulers for specific roles to play in governance.
He said the roles of the royal fathers in governance, particularly on security matters were very important.
The Senate President said, “Your request for a constitutional role in governance is not strange to us and in particular, to me based on my background.
“My late grandfather was a traditional ruler and in fact, one of the warrant officers used by the colonial masters for the effective implementation of indirect rule.
“During the period, traditional rulers effectively tackled issues of safety and security in their various domains.
“It is my belief and the entire senate leadership here, that if traditional rulers are constitutionally engaged in governance at the grassroots, the myriad of security challenges facing the country, would be things of the past.
“You traditional fathers are reservoirs of information highly needed at the grassroots. Your journey to us today on the request, would surely not be in vain,” he said.
The Etsu of Nupe, Dr Yahaya Abubakar who represented the Chairman of the National Traditional Council of Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, said the constitutional role of traditional rulers was expunged by framers of the 1979 Constitution.
He lamented that all efforts made by traditional rulers across the country under the aegis of the National Council of Traditional Rulers, to get back the role, had not yielded any fruit.
The Monarch said, “The most recent of such efforts, was the one made during the 9th National Assembly which didn’t scale through as a result of failure to get the required votes in the Senate for the demand despite, succeeding in the House of Representatives.”
