By SINL Reporter
Traditional rulers have said constitutional amendment that will give powers to monarchs is the panacea to ethno-religious crises in Nigeria.
According to the traditional rulers, Nigerian nation evolved from the amalgamation of several empires, kingdoms, caliphates and chiefdoms, adding that no community or nation would thrive successfully without the constitution of its historical evolution, customs, values and beliefs.
The Royal father’s made their position known through the Sultan of Sokoto, Dr. Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar at the presentation of a Memorandum to the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 constitution, held Thursday in Abuja.
The Sultan noted that stripping of the traditional council of its constitutional powers was responsible for the present spate of insecurity and corruption.
The Sultan of Sokoto, who was represented by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Dr Yahaya Abubakar recommended that traditional rulers in the country be given the constitutional recognition; official government backing and other legal authorities they had prior to the 1966 Unitary government Decree; General’s Gowon and Obasanjo’s 1967 and 1976 local government decree’s respectively’ which stripped the traditional authorities of their powers and gave same to local government councils.
He maintained that “currently, traditional rulers do not have the constitutional or other legal backings to perform effectively as they are not even mentioned in the 1999 constitution”.
“This is a great departure from all earlier constitutions that recognized them and gave them functions to perform. Indeed all the Nigerian earlier constitutions gave the Chairmen of the State Councils of Chiefs seats in the national council of State alongside former Presidents, Chief Justices, etc. For Example, this is clearly provided for under section 140 (1) and under part 1 of the third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution”.
“Nigeria needs to explore all available means of conflict resolution, Intelligence Gathering and containment of insecurities that will complement the conventional security outfits. This could be found in the traditional institutions as they are capable of binding their various people together and brokering peace. This will herald a positive change from what obtains presently in the conventional security/ justice.
“Nigeria’s major areas of conflicts today are on religion, ethnicity and land resources. Before the 1976 local government reforms, which stripped Traditional Rulers of their powers, there were never any recorded serious incidences of religious, ethnic or land related conflicts, where hundreds of of lives were lost as it is obtained nowadays” he added.
