Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has stated that there is increased security conflicts in the country due to the weakness of the lower tiers of government.
The former President said this while delivering a graduation lecture at the National Institute for Security Studies in Abuja on Thursday December 2.
Urging states to take deliberate steps to revive the local government system, he added that they must also have strong departments that will coordinate the affairs of local governments.
Jonathan said;
“Most of these security conflicts are happening because of the weakness of the lower tiers of government. The local government system that is supposed to interphase with communities directly and prevent this is dead in this country.
“Since the local governments are mainly managed by the states now — because we are told that some states even take their money — I think the states must have strong departments that will coordinate the affairs of local governments.
“And these departments must have regular meetings with traditional rulers and community development committees.”