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| Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja |
Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), has asserted that granting full autonomy to local government areas is essential to resolving the country's insecurity issues.
Speaking on Friday in Jos during the Nigerian Army celebration, General Lagbaja emphasized that local communities must experience development to effectively combat insecurity in Nigeria. He questioned why elites resist the autonomy that people are demanding for local governments, stating, “The surest way to bring development to the grassroots level is to ensure LG autonomy. Establishing more commissions or bureaucracies is not the solution. We already have enough bureaucracies. Until we bring development to the grassroots, we will not solve the problem of insecurity.”
Reflecting on his past experiences, he noted, “For those familiar with the North East, when I was posted to 93 Battalion in 1992, it was easy to drive from Maiduguri to Manguno, Kukawa, and other places within three hours. But today, that’s not possible. The lack of good governance at the local level is fueling insecurity, not just in the North East but also in the North Central and other regions.”
According to Daily Trust, previous attempts to grant autonomy to local governments were blocked by state governors. However, the federal government is now pushing for LG autonomy. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has taken the 36 states to the Supreme Court over this issue.
