Recently, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, asserted that despite the huge resources expended to restore peace in the South-East region, insecurity still persists.
Two other stories from the National Assembly (NASS) were also tracked for our reading pleasure.
1. Kalu’s lamentations
On May 22, Hon. Kalu lamented that insecurity was still alive in the South-East amidst the monumental resources spent to restore peace in the region.
“…We discovered that the kinetic approach, in isolation of non-kinetic mechanisms, was not delivering the expected deliverables of this engagement. Call it Operation Egwueke or Lion, or whatever you call it; it wasn’t delivering. Yet, Nigeria was spending so much money making those operations alive to the detriment of the blood of our citizens on the streets,” he said to an elite audience from Awka led by Chief Chikwe Udensi.
Kalu’s speech amplifies the frustration of many concerned Nigerians on the insecurity in the South-East, and elsewhere in the country.
It lends credence to the argument that the government may not have done enough to tackle the menace, especially the strong consideration of a political solution that would see to the freedom of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
NASS MEMORY LANE
Who said;“Whereas most Nigerians agree on the need to reform policing, that is usually where the consensus ends. There is no agreement on how best to proceed with the reform or the best policing model for Nigeria. In considering the path forward, we must recognise that no one-size-fits-all solution exists.”
Answer: See end of post
Two other stories
2. Investigating Nigeria’s 11,886 abandoned projects
The Senate, on May 23, resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate 11,886 important projects of the Federal Government that have been abandoned across the country.
The resolution was sequel to the adoption of a Senator Jimoh Ibrahim’s sponsored motion, titled: “Urgent need to look into the 11,886 Mega Projects abandoned by the Federal Government,” during plenary in Abuja.
Ibrahim had claimed that the committee identified 11,886 projects abandoned by the government since Independence in 1960“ saying “for 66 per cent of projects to be abandoned since 1960 is nothing less than a calamity that reduces our pride as the ‘Giant of Africa,’ if we are still one.”
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Does Jimoh’s horrid tale serve as an eye-opener to how monumental resources had been wasted by past administrations over the years? Perhaps, no, and this is because the details had always been open secret.
What troubles the most is that successive governments have, rather than remedy the situation and make example of culprits, continued to inaugurate new projects with little impact on society but with greater intention to fritter scarce resources.
For Jimoh and co, they may do well to insist on an honest review of already existing findings and call out everyone who has been implicated in the looting spree.
In addition, they may consider enacting laws that would ensure that uncompleted projects started by a previous administration were completed by a succeeding one.
3. Still on stopping herdsmen attacks
Following the surge in farmer/herdsmen conflicts in some communities, on May 21, the Senate resolved to convene a national summit targeted at addressing it.
This followed the adoption of a motion presented by Senator Isah Jibrin, on a matter of urgent importance titled: “Urgent Need for Rehabilitation of Agojeju Odo, Ajokpachi, Bagaji, and Bagana Communities in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State,” following gunmen attack, during plenary in Abuja.
Jibrin’s motion affirms that the issue of farmer/herdsmen conflicts are far from over, and further highlights the failure of government in solving the conflict that has lasted for decades, taking thousands of lives of Nigerians.
Would the proposed summit be actualized? What would be its agenda? Would this be another jamboree designed as mere talk shop for wastage of resources? Many questions to ask, indeed, and the answers may just be blowing in the wind.
Answer: Speaker Abbas Tajudeen
Tajudeen made the statement on April 22, 2024, at a national dialogue on state policing organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja. He is the current Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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