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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Governors of the 36 states of the federation, on the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), have agreed to dedicate portions of the Excess Crude Account, the Natural Resource Development Fund and the Economic Stabilisation Fund to providing the necessary equipment for the military and other security institutions, to immediately address the impunity associated with all of the crimes and criminality plaguing the country.
The decision was contained in the communique read at the end of the NGF’s first physical meeting since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country last year February, held at the banquet hall of the State House Conference Centre.
Chairman of NGF and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, who read the communique, at the end of the three-hour meeting, said: “On our part, we are prepared to support the dedication of portions of the Excess Crude Account and the Natural Resource Development Fund and the Economic Stabilisation Fund to providing the necessary equipment for the military and other security institutions to address, immediately, the impunity associated with all of the crimes and criminality that we have highlighted in this briefing.
“In this wise, we have also expressed our interest in strengthening our judicial system, so that they can accelerate access to justice for victims of crime and criminality in the country. Governors are irrevocably committed to the protection of life and property in our states, and we are full of sympathy with those who lost lives and property. The governors forum has gone ahead to provide some financial support to victims of the conflicts experienced in Uyo and Ogun states, where our delegation visited over the last week.
“Nigerian governors, also, are very clear that crime and criminality should be comprehensively prosecuted wherever they may occur without ethnic, religious or any other coloration. Governors are totally opposed to ethnic profiling of crime. Knowing what has transpired in other parts of the world, whether we are talking of the way youths were profiled in Germany leading to the world war, or the way Tutsis were profiled leading to the genocide experienced in Rwanda, we do not believe that crimes are associated with particular ethnic group.
“It is the view of the governors in Nigeria that the traditional approach to grazing is no longer sustainable and that modern approach to livestock management needs to be put in place, and governors feel strongly that the strengthening of the National Livestock Transformation Plan would be a good place to start this comprehensive revisiting of the livestock management arrangement.”
