The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has challenged traditional rulers and religious leaders to wake up to their responsibility of restoring moral values and discipline among the youth.
Buratai, in a remark at a security stakeholders’s meeting on Thursday in Wukari, Taraba State, said that restoring moral values to youths was crucial to addressing crime and increasing rate of insecurity in the society.
“The neglect of cultural and moral values is largely responsible for the security issues bothering Nigeria today. The first step toward a saner society is to restore these ideals,” Buratai, who was represented by Brig. Gen. Bello Mohammed, Brigade Commander, 23 Brigade, Yola, said.
He decried the disregard for the traditional institution and the failure of the legal system over the years, saying that the situation had encouraged impunity, religious intolerance and massive abuse of drugs leading to insecurity in many parts of the country.
Buratai regretted that criminals were gradually outnumbering innocent and law abiding citizens, urging traditional rulers and other stakeholders to preach peace and ensure peaceful coexistence among the people.
Speaking earlier, the Aku Uka of Wukari, Dr. Shekarau Angyu, had lamented the neglect of the traditional institution in Nigeria.
“The traditional rulers are given big palaces and luxury vehicles, but they have no specific roles to play.
“Much as we want to assist security agencies in tackling security challenges in our domains, we often get a bit lost because we have no particular duty. Government must push for specific roles for traditional rulers in the statutes,” he said.
He called on ward, village and district heads to be very vigilant and report suspicious persons to the relevant security agencies.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was attended by security chiefs, traditional rulers, religious and community leaders, and members of the public. (NAN)