Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State
-By Victoria Opeyemi
Present realities in Nigeria shows that justice and true federalism must be urgently addressed by political class in the country to help as partners in building one united country. Recently, the Federal Government had a Town Hall Meeting in Kaduna to focus on insecurity which has ravaged most part of the nation such as kidnapping, communal clashes and call for secession. Stakeholders from diverse fields of the society took the lead to chat the way forward and proffering solution.
They made it known that in the history of humanity no state or political community can be sustained by force. For a political community to be sustained, it has to be transformed first into law and rights of the people respected.
Being the host where the Town Hall Meeting was held, Governor Nasir El-Rufai blamed the country’s judicial system which he described as slow in dispensing justice in the Nigerian state. He said: “the security forces must collaborate to take the war to the bandits and terrorists, recover and restore ungoverned forests which terrorists are occupying and enable law abiding citizens to engage in legitimate farming and livestock production without fear. These bandits have lost their rights to life.”
Ibukun Awosika, one of the speakers in the Town Hall Meeting faulted the political class for seeking an elitist’s solution on the grounds of religion while relegating the importance of education for many out of school children across the country. In her words, “the consensus of the elite is a challenge because what we need to question is, who are elites of today, do they represent the kind of elites that we have who fought for independence. Do we have the mindset of nation building?”
Also speaking at the Town Hall Meeting was the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, he stressed the need for people to assist the government in its efforts to restore peace and unity. According to him, “there is no doubt that from the seriousness of the people involved the expected contributions of the wide range of stakeholders and the qualities of our panelists in this Town Hall Meeting will to a long way in proffering solutions in what has now become an essential crisis.” Government believes engaging the people in a Town Hall Meeting such as the one in Kaduna will boost better understanding of challenges in the country and create a way to resolve grievances.
Comment here