Bill For National Council Of Traditional Rulers Passes 2nd Reading

Bill for an act to establish National Council for Traditional Rulers to accord the council formal recognition and facilitate its roles has passed second reading in the Senate.

This is contained in the bill’s general principles at plenary in Abuja by the sponsor Senator Simon Lalong.

The lawmakers vehemently contributed to the debate on the bill, to primarily avoid conflict of responsibilities with elected political officers at the local
government councils.

According to him, before amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the colony of Lagos to form Nigeria in 1914 by British colonial masters, various traditional authorities were very influential.

This ,he said resulted in the traditional rulers governing their domains by virtue of being the custodians of the people’s culture, tradition, values, morals and religious beliefs.

“They served as vanguards in handling and containing communal conflicts, crises and insecurity among the people.

“They also brokered and regulated commerce and industry through trade with other kingdoms.”

He said the glory of traditional rulers blossomed between 1910 and 1960, where Nigerian traditional rulers were very influential and were in charge of the native authority administration.

“It is in order to fill the current lacuna that I first of all sponsored a Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Alteration) Bill.

Lalong said it was his conviction that even in these contemporary times, traditional rulers play a key role in the non-kinetic approach of the efforts by government at all levels to tackle the security challenges.

Lalong, a former governor of Plateau state said that the traditional rulers were now well-educated, adding that their advice and opinions on insecurity and other national issues could help the government meet the yearnings of the people.

Contributing some senators who expressed reservations about potential conflict of responsibilities advised that the bill should clarify the role of traditional rulers from that of government officials to avoid confusion.

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks, emphasised that the bill should clearly spell out the functions of traditional rulers.

Akpabio also said that a public hearing should be conducted to get inputs from other stakeholders before it is brought for a third reading.

James Itodo, Edited By Grace Namiji