The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has taken a holistic overview of the current centralised security architecture in Nigeria and described it as a failed system that must be overhauled in all its ramifications.
According to Lawan, “if we must get it right in the country, it has become imperative to restructure the security architecture.”
Fielding questions from Journalists in Abuja, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who noted that though series of efforts had been made in the past by both the executive and the legislative arms of government to address challenges of insecurity in the country, the worsening security situation requires restructuring of the failing architecture.
Lawan said: “We have had series of engagements before but the escalation now has made it mandatory that we have a definite position as a government because we just cannot play politics with security issues.
“Lives are being wasted. Therefore, the Senate will take a position on how security in the country should be. We believe that the security architecture should be restructured.
“We believe that the security architecture
should be restructured. The present system does not appear to give us the type
of outcome we need. Whether it is the federal, state or local government; even
the traditional rulers or others, the most important thing is to secure the
lives and property of Nigerians and we must do that.
“Apparently and obviously, all hands must be
on deck to ensure that we bring back a better security situation like we had
before.
“Presently, the story is not good in many areas, so much is happening that is destabilising our communities, killing of our people and we believe that we owe Nigerians the responsibility to intervene and work with the executive arm of government, actually to work together with other tiers of government, the states and local governments to ensure that we change the way we approach security issues in the country.
“The present arrangement is not working effectively and efficiently and we have to do something, and this time around, there shouldn’t be buck passing, we have to be forthright, we have to say it as it is, and we have to do it as it is required,” he said.