Senate President Ahmed Lawan
on Thursday said the challenges
of insecurity facing the country
can be linked to the absence of a
working local government
system. Senator Lawan said this
while fielding questions from
State House reporters after the
Eid-el-Fitr prayers observed at
the forecourt of the Presidential
Villa, Abuja. He said the lack of
autonomy at the level of local
government potentially hinders
solutions as well as efforts by the
Federal and state governments
towards addressing the nation’s
security challenge. He therefore
advised Nigerians to support
efforts at ensuring the desired
autonomy for local governments
in the country. According to
him, while the nation’s leaders
seek solutions to the security
crisis confronting the nation, the
Local Government system
should not be neglected. “We are
all leaders and we are in this
together, the solutions must
come from us regardless of what
levels of leadership we are –
whether at the Federal Level,
State Level, or even at the Local
Government level.
“I also want to take this
opportunity to say that we have
diminished the local government
system. I think we can attribute
the security issues to the absence
o f a F u n c t i o n a l L o c a l
Government System. “I think the
time has come for us to take up
the challenge and ensure that the
Local Government system
functions. This is as we look for
ways to curb the security
challenge. “We must never
neglect the local government
system. We must go back to our
local government system to
ensure they are autonomous and
functional,” Lawan said. The
senate president, who urged
e l e c t e d l e a d e r s t o s h u n
regionalism, said: “The President
is reaching out to all the
stakeholders. And I believe that
as leaders, particularly those of us
who were elected at all levels of
government, we should avoid
partisanship. “We should avoid
regionalism. We are all leaders
and we are in this together. “The
solutions to our challenges must
come from us regardless of what
level of government we are.
“Whether at the federal, state or the
local government level. “I believe
that Nigeria is going to come out of
these challenges stronger.” While
speaking, the Speaker of the House
o f Re p r e s e n t a t i v e s , Femi
Gb a j a b i ami l a , s a i d t h o s e
championing the call for secession
might be misguided and did not
mean well for the country.
Gbajabiamila, while reacting to the
call for restructuring, said there
might be genuine agitations. He
however told the elected leaders
and state governors not to
champion the movement for
restructuring without first
replicating the idea at the state
level, stressing that this is not the
time for name-calling or trading
blames as everyone is complicit.
While calling for a national spirit
of oneness, he said: “If truth be
told, we all have equal shares in the
blame for what’s happening today.
“Whatever challenges we have, we
must all come together to make
sure that we resolve these issues
we’re facing. “We must imbibe that
spirit of oneness, togetherness,
unity and love that would take us
through this.”