House of Representatives Committee on Defence will meet with the minister of defence, Abubakar Badaru, and the chief of defence staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, on Monday to find out how the military plans to implement the presidential directives to the Armed Forces to cultivate their land.
The chairman of the committee, Hon. Babajimi Benson, who stated this when he spoke with journalists in Abuja yesterday, thanked President Bola Tinubu for mandating the Armed Forces to also prioritize farming to ensure that all their lands are cultivated.
He said, “If food security exists, insecurity will go down. So, the Army takes possession, let’s say they have one million hectares somewhere; there is not going to be insecurity; it is going to be manned by the military.
“So, we are taking the initiative by next week (Monday), we are going to call the minister of defence and the CDS to explain how they want to transform Mr President’s directive into reality. Let the armed forces who protect us, all the vast land (they have) let them go and cultivate it.
Benson also hailed President Tinubu for ensuring local autonomy, saying the development will help address insecurity in the country as security starts from the grassroots. With the autonomy, local government council chairmen will have more funds to develop their areas and secure lives and properties.
The lawmaker representing Ikorodu federal constituency of Lagos State stressed that the financial autonomy granted to local government would spur development and close ungoverned spaces that induce insecurity.
“I give super kudos to the president of Nigeria for ensuring that there is local government autonomy because security starts from the grassroots. So, if you empower a local government to have full receipt of their monthly applications, they don’t have immunity like the governors, and people are aware that now the shackles are broken; I don’t think there will be any stretch or space in Nigeria that will not be governable.
“When I received a report from my military people, they told us that there are a lot of ungovernable spaces; they are areas where no single government presence exists. These will be made aware that the local government near the border has received a lot of money. So, it also behooves people to be wise in choosing people to administer them to because if you do that, this is a game changer, in my opinion. I think it is a game changer that can be catalytic for Nigeria’s development,” he said.
They should also be watchful of this and ensure that if there is a gang up to stifle Nigerians, they quickly step in or hold an investigative hearing so the world is aware that Nigeria is informed about predatory pricing strategies.”
On State Police, Benson said: “If I have the power to make legislation, I will say state policing is not done by force. If you want it, apply. If a governor applies for state policing, the authority vetting it may be the Police Service Commission, whatever, looks at it, and if they pass, they should be given a pilot scheme. There should also be conditions if you give them the license and they don’t do well, you can suspend, revoke, and you may not renew.”
