By Emmanuella Oghenetega
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has stated that ‘we cannot negotiate with those who kidnap our children’.
Speaking today at the plenary, the deputy speaker said, that ‘for too long we have been reactive rather than proactive, we need to demonstrate to the world that we are committed’.
He stated that in order to tackle the matters of insecurity in Nigeria, we must be innovative.
He further stated that although Nigeria possess strong laws, ‘we suffer weak institutional administration, inadeqaute funds.
“We are a legislative arm of government and must prefer legislative solutions. Let us talk low budget allocation for the Nigerian police force we must mandate sustained reputable funding. Criminal penalties for government officials, we cannot negotiate with those who kidnap our children.”
Speaking earlier on the security challenges of the Country, the Minority house leader; said “we cannot pretend that there is no insecurity in the country and the solution can only come from us. One of the problems we face is that we bring people from other close borders in, to strengthen us politically and by the time they enter, they become a problem and we cannot handle or control them anymore.”
When Nigerians praise the government that they are doing well, we must ask ourselves if indeed we are doing well. It is time for us to unite, remove religion and wear the toga of Nigeria. The time has come for us to have border rules. We have to protect our borders, the constitution amendment, we don’t have an option but to go back.
Let us invite all security chiefs and have a close door meeting with them, ask for facts and figures, make decision that would help the legislation.
