Insecurity: NASS gets 5-point agenda to support war against terrorism

The National Assembly has been given a five-point agenda to compliment the military’s fight against terrorism.

At an advocacy meeting held at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, on Tuesday, the One Nigeria Movement reeled out a quintet programmes that would ultimately end security challenges in the country.

In a statement signed by Convener, Comrade Ibrahim Dalla, the group said the move has become imperative owing to the grossly inadequate funding accorded to the military in the past.

The advocacy group lamented that the current budgetary allocation for defence doesn’t align with the harsh realities on the ground

According to them, the country’s security apparatus are stretched beyond their capacity, especially when they still make use of colonial era equipment.

The group, however, advised the 9th National Assembly to put an end to lips service, politics while drastically improving the annual budget of the military.

“ We have come to the point where it is expedient to prick the conscience of our legislators. It is time for them to acknowledge that the entire country can actually come together to tackle the menace of terror only if they provide the needed legislative oversight and budgetary approval that will rapidly reposition the Armed Forces, Police and other relevant security agencies. We cannot continue to repeat the same cycle of inadequate funding and expect different outcomes,” the statement reads.

“ This is no time to paying lip service to the war on terrorism like the 8th Assembly did. It is pointless moving motions and passing resolutions when the organizations that will be responsible for the implementation of the actions resolved on are not properly and adequately equipped to perform their functions. Any call made by the Senate or House of Representatives for the military and security organizations to fight terrorism and crime today will amount to asking the personnel of these agencies to go into fist combats in a war that the terrorists are coming to with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers. Instead of paying lip service to the counter-terrorism war, our dear lawmakers must take realistic actions to better fund these organizations,” the group said.