Former President, Goodluck Jonathan
spoke on Thursday at the 2019 African Security Conference holding in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State. According to him, the deployment of technology in the
electoral process would serve as a means of ending electoral violence and
political patronage of thugs.
He said: “Our country needs to
come up with an electoral system where thugs and bandits would no longer be
relevant. Many countries have solved this problem through the deployment of
technology and electronic voting.
Some desperate politicians and people in power are known to protect notorious
outlaws often linked to violent crimes because of their strong-arm tactics that
come handy during electioneering campaigns and elections; Where criminals are
protected, they become role models.
“There are instances where
people of shady character or those with questionable wealth are rewarded with
either public offices or even traditional titles.
This is not good for our system
and the future of our country because it does not instill in our youths the
right values. A society that does not consciously reject and punish criminality
will open up itself for more security problems.”
Jonathan also called for the
reform of the local government system in the country to make it more responsive
to the needs of the people and more functional in combating insecurity in the
country. Jonathan lamented the failure of governance at the local levels,
noting that a “functional local government system is strategic to peace because
it is designed not only to address basic social services but to also
collaborate with traditional institutions to secure the people.”
He said: “It is sad that the
local governments which used to serve as the engine of development because of
its closeness to the people no longer functions effectively.
By grading local roads, building
community centres, providing primary healthcare and maintaining local schools,
the councils of old served as stabilizing factors in the society because, in
doing all those, they were quite responsive to the needs of the people.
“The local government was also
active in maintaining peace through effective community policing because of its
strategic position and proximity to the people. They were able to do that, in
the past, because the local government system enjoyed a measure of autonomy
which gave them control over their resources, projects and programmes.
Today the story is different.
The councils can hardly do anything else beyond paying the salaries of the
members of staff, elected representatives and their aides. There is a need for
the nation to correct this untoward development.”
The former President, therefore,
called on the National and State Assemblies to “take a holistic look at
governance at the local levels with the mind of reviewing the enabling laws and
making the local governments more functional.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you all for taking your time to read!!!