By SundiataPOST, Abuja
The Minister of Police Affairs, retired Capt. Caleb Olubolade, says Nigeria needs a workable national policy on public safety and security to achieve enduring peace.
The minister stated this in Uyo on Monday at an interactive forum organised by the Ministerial Committee on the Development of a National Policy on Public Safety and Security.
Olubolade, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs, Dr James Obiegbu, said the forum was meant for the South-South geopolitical zone.
The minister said the policy was expected to provide the overall framework for implementation and delineation of roles of various stakeholders involved in public safety and security.
He listed the stakeholders to include the different tiers of government, relevant security agencies, organisations, communities and individuals.
He said that effective national policy on safety and security should capture the modalities for prosecution of offenders and criminals.
Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Femi Odekunle, said the forum would to collect and collate information for national security policy formulation.
Odekunle said public safety required collaboration of formal and informal agencies in a timely manner and with dexterity.
He said the forum intended to develop policy document that would provide holistic approach to security and public safety in Nigeria.
“It is anticipated that the benefits would include some assurance that efforts at preserving public peace are coordinated, efficient and effective.
“It should also address the issue of inter-agency rivalry among security agencies”, Odekunle said.
The Paramount ruler of Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, Edidem Edet Akpan, urged Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers.
Akpan emphasised the need for Federal Government to implement suggestions that would emerge from the forum.
He condemned the spate of militancy and kidnapping in southern Nigeria as well as Boko Haram insurgency in the north.
“The royal fathers do not want this country to split. Our forefathers shed blood to keep Nigeria united. I urge Nigerians to be patriotic in all aspects of life”, Akpan said.
Declaring the forum open, Gov. Godswill Akpabio thanked the security agencies in the Akwa Ibom for reducing crime rate to the barest minimum.
Represented by a director in the Office of the Secretary to State Government, Mrs Stella Usah, Akpabio said the State Government was committed to assisting the security agencies in discharging their duties.
The governor urged Nigerians to regard security as everybody’s responsibility and promised to maintain the peace prevailing in the state.
