Nigeria @ 62: Stakeholders demand constitutional role for traditional rulers 

Some traditional rulers in the South-East geopolitical zone have expressed worry that 62 years after the attainment of independence, the country’s Constitution had yet to define the role of the royal fathers.

A cross-section of the traditional rulers made the remark in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
In Anambra, the Traditional Ruler of Abacha in Idemili North Local Government Area, Igwe Godwin Odiegwu, demanded that the Constitution should be amended to assign specific roles to traditional rulers in the process of national development.
According to Odiegwu, constitutional recognition will confer greater legitimacy on royal fathers as development partners with government.

He said that government should use the traditional rulers to achieve security and sanity in their communities.
“The Federal Government should include the traditional rulers in its strategic efforts in tackling insecurity at the grassroots level,” he said.
He recommended that traditional rulers should be financially empowered by government to enable them to contribute more meaningfully in the task of nation building.

He said that their wise counsel should be properly harnessed, particularly in preserving the culture, values and customs of their communities.
The Chairman, Anambra Central Traditional Rulers’ Council, Igwe Chris Okpala, urged the three tiers of government to accord due recognition to the traditional institution.

Okpala, who is the Traditional Ruler of Awkaeze Community in Anaocha Local Government Area, described the traditional institution as closest to the people and being more conscious of their needs and aspirations than any other form of government.

He argued that the Constitution should allot security votes to traditional rulers to enable them to contribute substantially and effectively to providing security in their communities.
Okpala said: “For Nigeria to achieve greater growth and development at the grassroots, the traditional institution must be accorded some constitutional roles.
“Considering the huge responsibilities they handle in their various communities, traditional rulers are supposed to be assigned specific constitutional mandate because their position impacts directly on the people.

“Everyday, they mediate over disputes bordering on marital affairs, land grabbing, boundary disputes and youth restiveness, amongst others.”
He regretted that they were not appropriately rewarded, in spite of their role in maintaining the peace and security in their communities.
“Traditional rulers should be chief security officers in their various communities.
“They are also supposed to be the eye of the government over their subjects, and sending useful information to government for swift action as the need arises,” Okpala said.

He further suggested that the traditional rulers council be upgraded to an organ of development at the community level.
He said that most of the cases being handled by the customary courts would be officially taken over by the traditional institution, if it gets constitutional recognition.

“We live with the people and know them better than any other arm of government that arbitrates in community matters.
He said that such responsibility would also make the traditional rulers to live amongst their subjects than living and running the affairs of their communities from abroad.
“If traditional rulers are given constitutional role to perform, community policing will work effectively and the level of crime being experienced in many communities would abate.

In a similar vein, the Enugu State Traditional Rulers’ Council said that the Federal Government had shown genuine commitment toward providing security at the grassroots level, with the community policing initiative.
The Chairman of the Council, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu, said that the initiative produced the Special Constables or Community Policing Officers working directly in their communities.

Agubuzu said he believed that the initiative would stand the test of time, with the possible regularisation of the appointment of the volunteers.
He further said that rural communities would benefit immensely from the initiative.
He, therefore, advocated that it be strengthened and peoperly funded to muster the capacity to discharge its mandate.

The royal father said, “Given that security is everybody’s business, traditional rulers will ensure that security agencies, especially the police, got the necessary support, encouragement and advice from us.”
He opined that the present security challenges in the country were surmountable, starting from the community-level and with the people’s cooperation to community policing and its special constabulary officers.

A philanthropist and community leader in the state,
Dr Ejikeme Odumegwu, said that security agencies could not perform in isolation.
Odumegwu said that the success of the nation’s security agencies depended on the cooperation the people were willing to give.
“I have worked closely with the police and other security agencies for many years now and I have found out that they will always give their best when we see them as friends and help them to succeed,” he said.

Contributing, the Zonal Secretary of Police Community Relations Committee, Dr Emma Iwegbu, said that community policing had not been very effective due to some defects.
Iwegbu further contended that the initiative had not been properly streamlined to achieve the necessary synergy with the people.
He, therefore, underscored the need for government “to broaden the reach and engagement of community policing.
“All over the world, security is everybody’s business, irrespective of your status or knowledge, there is a role for you to play,” he said.

NAN reports that the respondents were unanimous that, moving forward, government at all levels must integrate the traditional rulers and community leaders in their strategic work plan to provide adequate security for lives and property. (NAN)