In a flurry of attempts to resolve the country’s acute insecurity, President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime organised a town hall meeting on national security with its participants, suggesting that various ethnic nationalities should stick together.

Lai Mohammed, the country’s information minister, quoted one of the participants, Prof Ade Ajayi, as saying, “It will take more energy to break up Nigeria than to fix Nigeria and that if properly exploited, our diversity is actually a source of strength.”

According to the minister, participants further recommended the decentralisation and reformation of the judiciary through a constitutional amendment.

It also resolved that every level of government must ensure that every child of school age “has compulsory and free primary education.”

Mr Mohammed pledged to share the resolutions of the town hall meeting with all stakeholders and present a memo on them to the Federal Executive Council. 

The minister disclosed consensus on the “primacy of law and order in governing society,” with participants agreeing that Nigerians could agitate for political restructuring but not accept the call for separation or secession.

The participants at the town hall meeting also recommended the creation of state police, adding that traditional rulers should have their age-long roles in governance.

According to Mr Mohammed, the traditional rulers in the past played key roles to maintain peace and security within their domains.

The minister also said one of the resolutions was to grant autonomy to local governments so they could have the means to secure and govern their areas.

(NAN)