Senator representing Kwara Central senatorial district, Senator Saliu Mustapha, has called for a more extensive consultation on the desirability or otherwise introduction of State Police in the country.
Speaking with journalists during a distinguished personality lecture series of the University of Ilorin’s Department of Political Science, in conjunction with the Institute of Legislative Studies, titled, Constitutional Amendment and Political Dynamics of State Policing in Nigeria, in the University of Ilorin, Mustache said that such consultation should be done to guide in arriving at a conclusion on desirability of state Police.
He promised to pitch his tent with any group that had superior argument on the desirability or otherwise of state police system in the country.
Senator Mustapha also urged Nigerians to continue to be up and doing on the need to let the state police tackle the myriads of insecurity challenges facing the nation.
Senator Mustapha also urged other tertiary institutions to borrow a leaf from the UNILORIN by convoking public lectures on the burning issue of state police.
He said that the National Assembly was already on the matter and assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would at the end of the day come up with what was best for the country.
In his keynote address, the vice chancellor of University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Egbewole(SAN) lauded the gesture of the Department of Political Science and Institute of Legislative Studies of the institution for organising the public lecture on Constitutional Amendment on State Policing.
He said that such inter-disciplinary collaboration between the legislative arm of government is apt in view of the importance of legislative arm as a symbol of democracy.
The vice chancellor, who said that the idea of state police is good as it will make our communities safe, added that appropriate legislation should be made to avoid the challenges being witnessed with the state electoral commission in the country to ensure that it is not created for political witch hunting.
“It is the duty of the legislature to ensure that adequate provisions are made to avoid any unwarranted challenge in its implementation and not abused.
“Since the advent of fourth Republic a lot of constitutional amendments have been made but the implementations have been thoroughly challenged. So, there must be synergy between the arms of government in order to ensure that there is adequate provisions that would guide its implementation”.
The vice chancellor also used the occasion to appeal to the National Assembly to increase the budget of the nation’s universities to assist them in meeting the global standards for the academic excellence of the students.
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