Local Gov’t Autonomy Will Solve Security Challenges In Nigeria — COAS  

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has said that unless local communities experience development, it would be difficult to end insecurity in Nigeria.

Against this background, the COAS said that granting full autonomy to the local government areas would undoubtedly solve the problem of insecurity in the country.

General Lagbaja stated this during a Nigerian Army celebration in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Friday. He emphasised that unless local communities experience development, it would be difficult to end insecurity in the country.

“Why are the elites resistant to local government autonomy, which people are clamouring for? The surest way to bring development to the grassroots level is to ensure local government autonomy. It’s not by establishing commissions or bureaucracies. We have already established bureaucracies. Until we take development to the grassroots level, we will not solve the problem of insecurity.

“For those familiar with the North-East environment, when I was posted to 93 Battalion in 1992, it was very easy to drive from Maiduguri to Munguno, Kukawa, and other places within three hours. But today, it’s not possible. Good governance at the local level is non-existent, and that’s what’s driving insecurity in the country. This is not only in the North-East but also in the North-Central and other regions,” General Lagbaja stated.

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Our correspondent reports that previous attempts to grant autonomy to the local government system in the country were rejected by state governors. However, the federal government was making a move to grant autonomy to the LGAs.