Bill for an act to establish National Council for Traditional Rulers to accord the council formal recognition and facilitate their 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
Lawmakers vehemently contributed to the debate on the bill, to primarily avoid conflict of responsibilities with elected political officers at the local
government councils.
Lalong said the bill was read for the first time on Oct 8, 2024.
According to him,before amalgamation of 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 societies by virtue of being the custodians of people’s culture, tradition, values, morals and religious beliefs.
“They served as vanguards in handling and containing communal conflicts, crises and insecurities among their diverse citizens.
“They also brokered and regulated commerce and industry through trade with other kingdoms.”
He said the glory of traditional rulers blossomed between the 1910 and the 1960, where Nigerian traditional rulers were very influential and were charge of the native authority administration.
“Under the British colonial “indirect rules” system they served as the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary.
“This format continued under the first republic with the roles of traditional rulers as members of the regional house of chiefs.
“The traditional institution was however sidelined with General Ironsi’s 1966 unitary government, General Gowon’s and General Obasanjo’s 1967 and 1976.”
He said the government reform decrees stripped traditional rulers of the powers and shared them between federal, states and local governments
He, however, said the 1979 constitution restored the significance of our traditional institutions to a great extent, while the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) relegated their relevance to the background.
“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, 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 government meet the yearnings of the people.
Contributing, some senators, who expressed reservations about potential conflicts of responsibility advised that the bill should be 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 said that a public hearing should be conducted to get inputs from other stakeholders before it is brought for a third reading.
