By Samuel Luka, Bauchi
Governments at various levels have been urged to empower traditional leaders in order to help in surmounting the myriads of security challenges bedeviling the country.
The Third Republic House of Representatives Members Forum which made the call in Bauchi on Tuesday opined that governments need to support traditional rulers to complement in tackling security challenges in the country.
National Organizing Secretary of the Forum, Hajiya Amina Aliyu made the call in an interview with Journalists at the end of a one day conference on the security challenges and the impact on Nigeria Economy in the North East Region.
She urged governments to give the traditional institution constitutional powers to enable royal fathers to play their leadership roles in order for Nigeria to have effective security.
According to Hajiya Amina Aliyu, downplaying the roles of traditional rulers in the governance of any society is not good for its development, said that the role of traditional institution should be clearly spell out in the Nigerian constitution.
“Traditional rulers’ inclusion in the security management with clearly defined constitutional responsibilities will curb numerous security challenges bedeviling the Country”, the Forum further explained.
“Empowerment of traditional rulers to play their roles because they are usually more accessible by the ordinary people in times of need and problems than government officials and elected politicians”, Aliyu pointed out.
She said because they live among the people, the traditional leaders virtually know everybody and thus, can easily identify problem situations with a view to tackle them.
According to her, traditional rulers are still seen as the living representatives of the ancestors and believed to derive their authority from the spirits of leadership.
Also speaking, Dr Jibrin Sulaiman of the Department of Sociology, Bauchi State University, attributed some of the causes of insecurity in Nigeria to poverty and unemployment.
He appealed to the government to provide employment, proper funding of education, especially technical schools that provide skills to the young men in the country.
Dr. Jibrin said that the provision of empowerment initiative and skills for the youth would go a long way in getting them engaged, thereby curbing the problems of insecurity in the society.
He stressed the need for the governments to take urgent steps to empower the traditional rulers and create awareness on the engagement of youth to be self -reliant.