Security summit waste of tax payers’ money – Group

The all-inclusive national security summit being considered by the Senate to seek far-reading resolutions on how to nip current challenges in the bud has been described as a waste of tax payers’ sweat.

Executive secretary of Citizens Watch Advocacy Initiative (CWAI), Omoba Kenneth Aigbegbele, in a press statement Monday in Abuja, said the current Senate President, Ahmad Lawan held sway as the Senate Leader of the 8th National Assembly when a summit was conducted at the Nigeria Air Force Conference Centre, Abuja with all the security chiefs present and papers delivered by virtually all the security stakeholders.

He said notwithstanding the energy and resources injected into the summit, its recommendations to date have not been implemented, nor a white-paper released to show any seriousness in finding any lasting solutions to the security menace.

CWAI wondered what changes had taken place since then to warrant embarking on another national summit. It also asked if the resolutions of the previous national security summits converged all these years have ever been implemented. The organization further requested for the results of all the previous security summits to date, as well as why their recommendations have not been implemented to the letter.

In his words: “CWAI wonders why another national security summit, when the same Service Chiefs that have been around would be the same people to present papers. It therefore wonders what went wrong and wants to know why the outcome was not implemented to move the nation forward, but instead, a fresh security summit is been planned, which looks more of a jamboree or a wastage of tax payers’ funds”.

 He reasoned that, “Since Independence in 1960, the country has witnessed several multilateral symposia, workshops and summits, all in a bid to chart a course for the nation of our dream, but most of these so-called exchange programme dialogues and summits have proven to be merely fleecing pipes of the nation’s vast economic resources into few hands while the implementation of the summits’ communiqués are never done.

 “Cwai is in tandem with the views of a human rights and constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana who has described the proposed national security summit as ‘completely escapist and diversionary.’

“In view of the foregoing, CWAI calls for the outright suspension of the proposed security summit by the 9th National Assembly because it is a colossal waste of time, resources, tax payers’ money, and a sheer duplication of efforts.

“Therefore, CWAI reiterates Falana’s observation that: “… instead of calling for the setting up of another security summit, the Senate, under the leadership of Senator Lawan, should implement the resolutions of the Senate and the recommendations of the Executive on national security.”

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