The Lowa Adimula of the Ife Kingdom, High-Chief Adekola Adeyeye, has urged the Federal Government to empower traditional rulers to safeguard their territories.
Adeyeye, who is also the third in the hierarchy of Ife traditional council, the Ooni-in-council gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ile-Ife, Osun.
He noted that traditional rulers remained in direct contact with their subjects and, therefore, should be empowered to safeguard them.
According to him, Nigerian leaders are trying all possible best to ensure peaceful coexistence across the country, but they should try to prioritise security.
He lamented the spate of killings arising from insurgency, banditry, kidnappings, rituals and armed robbery which he said had become rampant.
Adeyeye reiterated the need to ensure the safety of the lives and property of Nigerians.
The High-Chief charged leaders to redesign the country’s security architecture toward taming security challenges in communities by restoring power to traditional rulers.
The Ooni-in-council stated further that traditional rulers were closer to the people at the grassroots than the three tiers of government.
He said that they knew all there that were going on in the nooks and crannies of their communities.
“Traditional rulers know their subjects and how to handle all that happens in their domain, especially on security breaches.
“Kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual killings and banditry among others all over the country have prevented Nigerians from moving freely,’’ he said.
Adeyeye, therefore, seek collaboration between the governments and traditional rulers so as to eradicates all forms of security challenges facing the nation.
He appealed to the government to make provisions for employment of all graduating students yearly, to reduce idleness which contributed to crimes. (NAN)
