Restructuring remains the solution to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges - Edwin Clark

Edwin Clark

A former Federal Commissioner of Information, Edwin Clark has said  that restructuring remains the solution to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.

The elder statesman made this point while faulting the centralised security architecture in the country which he said could not avert, or respond swiftly to security issues in all parts of the country.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Clark said Nigeria must restructure to allow for the creation of state police and other grassroots policing options to tame the security issues in the country.

He said, “The security challenges the country is currently facing will be overcome if we adopt restructuring.

“This is because the issue of security is local and we cannot have effective security cover when everything is done from the centre.

“A major ingredient of restructuring is state police and it is when we have this and other community policing options that we can have proper security.”

Clark stressed that restructuring would also promote effective governance and development, if adopted by the country.

“Restructuring will ensure that power devolves from the centre to the other federating units for effective governance.

“Why, for instance, would the Federal Government be involved in things like secondary education, health services, agriculture that are better handled by the states?

“The government at the centre, in an ideal federation, should only control areas like immigration, defence and maybe prison.

“Restructuring will ensure that resources are freed up at the centre for the development of those local things like agriculture, health and secondary education,” he said.