By Paul Effiong, Abuja
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas has lamented the insecurity across the country, even as he vowed the commitment and readiness of the House under his leadership to address the challenges such as loss of human lives, banditry, insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery, oil and solid minerals theft among others through the instrumentality of laws.
Speaking during a one-day public hearing on the bill to establish alternative funding for security agencies at the National Assembly, Abuja, the speaker also observed that the current funding system is inadequate to address several security challenges in the country.
The speaker, who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Victor Nwokolo lamented that insecurity have had the combined effect of scaring investors and creating humanitarian challenges through the displacement of families, stressing that such ugly trend has created issues with food security arising from desertion of farms by farmers.
Speaker Abbas disclosed that the bill for the establishment of a Nigerian Security and Intelligence Trust Fund is aimed at boosting the capacity of Nigeria’s security and intelligence architecture in order to effectively pursue their constitutional mandate of security of lives and property, which is the primary responsibility of government.
According to the speaker, “the security of life and property is a very vital nation building tool. It is the most effective instrument in attracting investments and ensuring even development of a country. Therefore, the importance of security cannot be overemphasized, especially in a country like ours that is pulling the necessary plug to attract investments and create opportunities for jobs and employment of our youths”.
Abass also commended security forces, adding that they have continued to work hard within its constitutional powers to maintain the security of lives and property.
He disclosed that the public hearing was organised to afford members of the public the opportunity to make informed contributions that would assist the House under his leadership to take a decision towards the establishment of a Nigerian Security and Intelligence Trust Fund which would lend itself to increase the funding of security agencies and enhance their capacity for intelligence gathering, training and equipment with the overall aim ofj nipping security challenges in the bud.
In his address, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intellegence, Ahmed Satomi explained that the fund will primarily be deployed for the training and retraining of security personnel, provision of the state-of-the-art security and intelligence equipment and other necessary infrastructure/related facilities for the enhancement of the technical competency and operational readiness of security personnel in all areas of their operations.
He stated that the fund will also ensure the upgrade and maintenance of training institutions to global standards, make resources available for research and development including the utilisation of the outcome of such research to bring intelligence agencies, armed forces and relevant paramilitary agencies at par with world best security agencies in this digital age.
According to him, the passage of this Bill means that funds will no longer be a major hindrance to the effectiveness and efficiency of our security and intelligence agencies to deliver on their mandates.
The committee also promised to make further provisions in the Bill to ensure that resources are not abused and that the legislative intent is not compromised.
Meanwhile, Satomi disclosed that California University’s $100 billion budget, with 30 percent allocated to research and development, arguing that Nigeria’s security budget is significantly lower, despite its larger population.
