National Economic Summit: Inclusive governance critical to peace, development — Lalong

Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has stressed that inclusive governance is critical to peace and development across the nation.

The governor stated this during his contribution as a panelist on the topic: ‘Removing the Binding Constraints to Security : The Subnational Perspective’ at the 27th National Economic Summit, on Tuesday at Nicon Hilton Abuja.

He said the Plateau State Peace Building Agency (PSPBA) established to mitigate violent crisis in the state, involved critical stakeholders such as youth, women and religious groups and Civil Society Organisations among others, to effectively discharge its duties .

“The Peace Building Agency for six years has implemented a template to mitigate violent conflict in out state.

“We also introduced community policing and involved community members and traditional leaders in the process,” he said.

He recommended that all states should adopt a model that would address their peculiar security challenges of saying, “No security, no development.”

He said that the Plateau government established PSPBA and inter-religious council, as approaches of addressing different dimensions of crisis and to build social cohesion amongst various groups in the state.

“For religious crisis, the council helps in mitigating it, while for ethnic issues the traditional leaders are key to handling it,” he said.

He said the manpower of the police force is not commensurate to the population of Nigeria, noting that security agencies are underfunded and their personnel require motivation to optimally perform their duties.

Also speaking as a panelist, the Governor of Imo, Hope Uzodinma, represented by his Deputy, Placid Njoku, also said that communities should be involved in building sustainable peace, especially trusted and reliable community leaders.

The moderator of the session, Dr Tayo Aduloju, said that the security architecture of Nigeria, requires conflict sensitive policies and collaborative framework for its efficiency.

The theme of the 27th National Economic Summit is ‘Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now.’