A legal luminary, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to effect a constitutional change that would allow a decentralised police force to effectively address the insecurity challenges confronting the country.
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According to him, the country is in dire need of an upgraded security arrangement because of the recent security breaches by bandits and disgruntled elements in some parts of the country.
Fagbemi stated this while delivering a lecture at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Okitipupa branch, on Saturday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the Law Week was “Security as the Bedrock of a Prosperous Nation: Rejigging Nigeria’s Constitutional Federalism.”
Fagbemi said that the primary responsibility of any government was to provide adequate security for its citizenry, adding that it was taken for granted that developmental endeavours would revolve around the security architecture.
He expressed the concern that in spite of the presence of several security agencies, insecurity still prevailed in the country.
The senior advocate also said that in spite of the huge budgetary allocations to defence since 2018, the spate of robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings and insurgencies had refused to abate.
He also called on government to invest heavily in social security and reduction of unemployment, which, he said, contributed largely to the spate of insecurity in the country.
“Nigeria has porous land borders; our immigration practices must be tightened to ensure accountability for everyone that goes in and out of the country in order to check insecurity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Omololu Bagbe, Chairman, Okitipupa NBA branch, urged the judiciary to speed up the process of rekindling the hope of the masses in the country’s judicial system.
NAN reports that several legal practitioners from all across the country attended the five-day event, under the Chairmanship of a renowned industrialist and business mogul, Chief Jimoh Ibrahim.
NAN also reports that the branch also launched a N25 million ultra-modern NBA House, which was initiated by the current executives of the association.