By Gloria Ikibah
Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Hon. Henry Nwawuba, has urged Parliament to respond to Nigeria’s growing insecurity through fresh policy and legislative solutions.
Nwawuba made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking at the 2nd Annual Distinguished Parliamentarian Lecture organised by the House of Representatives Press Corps.
The former member of the House of Representatives, who received the Icon of Legislative Research Award at the event, spoke on the theme, “The Imperative of State Police: Securing Communities, Strengthening Federalism.”
He said the proposed establishment of state police provided Parliament with an opportunity to explore new approaches to tackling the country’s security challenges.
Nwawuba, a former chairman of the House Committee on Monitoring of the Legislative Agenda, recalled that the committee had previously examined security issues, including overlapping mandates within Nigeria’s security architecture and ways of making policing more effective.
He said the issues were considered from the perspectives of constitutional amendment and emerging legislation on state police.
According to him, Parliament must remain an engine room for policy innovation, particularly when confronted with emerging security challenges.
Nwawuba said lawmakers cannot continue to offer sympathy to victims of insecurity without taking concrete legislative action to address the problem.
“We can’t keep saying our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of insecurity and we call ourselves legislators. We will get tired. After a while it becomes shameful. Is it that there is nothing we can do?” he asked.
He said the proposed reform was intended to provide policing that could respond more effectively to the peculiar security needs of different regions, noting that similar approaches had been adopted in other countries.
While acknowledging concerns surrounding the creation of state police, Nwawuba said issues such as funding and adequate safeguards must be properly addressed.
“I do appreciate the concerns that some people have raised but for me as long as we can take care of the issue of funding, I think we should give it a try because insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and think the situation will change,” he said.
The Executive Secretary said the changing nature of insecurity required Parliament to constantly review its approach and ensure that laws remained relevant to the needs of citizens.
“We have an emerging situation on our hands when it comes to insecurity so the parliament must respond and that is what the parliament is for. Any law that does not serve the people is a bad law,” he said.
The call comes amid ongoing legislative efforts to establish a constitutional framework for state police, with lawmakers and other stakeholders continuing to debate the proposed policing model, its funding, accountability mechanisms and safeguards against abuse.
