GOVERNANCE OF LOCALITIES AND CHALLENGES TO SECURITY IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: WHAT CAN TRADITIONAL RULERS DO?
GOVERNANCE OF LOCALITIES AND CHALLENGES TO SECURITY IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: WHAT CAN TRADITIONAL RULERS DO?

Summary/Abstract: Nigeria is currently facing a plethora of challenges, out of which is the security of lives and properties. The scheming out of traditional rulers, considered to be gatekeepers of the local communities from the governance of their localities, perhaps has been one of the reasons remarkable result has not been achieved in securing the country as a whole. Against the backdrop, the study analyzes the constitutional provision for the traditional authorities in Nigeria, examines their relevance in maintaining security, and determines the restraining factors to traditional rulers’ involvement in the governance of Nigeria. Using secondary data and authors’ observations, the study revealed that the whittling down of the powers of traditional rulers has inhibited them from adequately maintaining security in their domains. This has affected their power of adjudication of criminal justice at the local level, and so, contributed to security degeneration in the country. That “all politics is local” and should be meted with local solutions cannot be overridden. Given the foregoing, the study argues that although traditional rulers are contributing in little way to curtail the menace of insecurity in their neighborhoods, they can contribute more if they can be given constitutional roles in the governance system of the country.

• Details
• Contents