The Senate has challenged the 36 state governors to sit down with their people and address security challenges rather than always run to the Presidency for solutions.
Addressing reporters in Abuja on Monday, Senate Leader Yahaya Abdullahi, said the Senate was disturbed that herdsmen/farmers’ crises, banditry and insurgency remain unabated.
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Abdullahi said the Senate would on resumption today debate a motion by Deputy Senate Leader Ajayi Boroffice, on the incessant clashes between herders and farmers across the country.
He said: “These are issues that should be resolved at the local level either through dialogue anchored on the spirit of give and take.
“Whatever crises that are involved should be resolved by political leaders at appropriate levels be it, at the National Assembly, at the level of the governors, local government and even councillorship level where state actors are expected to sit down with their people so that a lot of these issues can be articulated and addressed by the local population.
“In fact, this is what the governors at their levels should do and not always running to the presidency to solve one dispute here and there.
“This is a federation and we’re all politically responsible leaders. I can assure you that in no distant time, these inter-communal conflagrations would be resolved.”
He said with some kind of ethnic colouration of the herders/farmers’ clashes, urgent interventions were required at various levels of government to prevent them from further escalation.
“These are kind of crises that must be addressed promptly and squarely in preventing ethnic entrepreneurs from hijacking the whole situation and putting the country in danger.
“There are existential issues that have set communities that have hitherto lived together peacefully, against each other either for political advantage or political matters.
On the fate of the former service chiefs scaling the hurdle of Senate’s confirmation as ambassadorial nominees, the leader said this would be brought to the floor of the Senate, “the committee (on Foreign Affairs) will do its work and after that will bring the report to the Senate.”
