The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has expressed dissatisfaction over absence of Igbos in the commanding heights of security agencies of the country.
He said owing to this absence, the Igbos are automatically not privileged to attend national security council meetings.
A statement by Mr. Ekweremadu’s spokesman, Uche Anichukwu, said the Deputy Senate President made call at the South East Economic and Security Summit held at the Government House in Enugu.
“Today, as I speak, there is no Igbo man in the commanding heights of our security sector and so they do not attend Security Council meetings.
“In the top echelon of the governance of this country, the Igbos are absent. I am not going to make any request because the President is not here and he is not represented, but I will just speak my mind on matters like these.
“These are things we need to think about because any part of Nigeria or the world that feels unjustly treated will never be interested in peace.
“The simple suggestion is that this is the time for us to think along the path of a decentralised policing.
“Today, we have challenges of kidnapping, insurgency, menace by suspected herdsmen and militancy.
“All these have never been resolved by about 340,000 police officers policing about 170 million people. It does not happen anywhere in the world.
“The answer to it is restructuring so that every part of Nigeria will develop in accordance with its potentials, be it economic, intellectual, agricultural, or others to be able to contribute to the commonwealth.
“As long as we have a unified system of economy, it is not going to work. We must find a way of ensuring that we use our natural endowments for development,” he said.
Mr. Ekweremadu also called for the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, since the court had granted him bail.
“Liberty is something that God gave to us because it is an inalienable right and for you to take away somebody’s liberty, it must be in a very extreme circumstance, and in accordance with the law.
“So, if the court says someone should be released from detention, government must do everything possible to respect that and everybody who is accused of an offence must as a matter of necessity, and in good time, have his day in court.
“This reminds me of the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu. Whatever his offence, he must have his day in court and if the court says he be released, he should accordingly be released,’’ he added.
He then said it was time those at the helm of affairs addressed marginalisation and non- inclusion of the Igbos in governance.
