Youth begs FG to give traditional rulers constitutional roles to enhance stability

A Pan Yoruba youth socio-political organisation, Yoruba Youth Congress (YYC), has urged the Federal Government to amend the constitution to grant constitutional roles to traditional rulers.

The National President of YYC, Mr Dapo Adepoju, in a statement on Monday in Akure, said constitutional roles for traditional rulers in the country would promote stability in the polity.

According to Adepoju, the amendment to the 1999 constitution should be in line with the 1969 constitution that gave traditional rulers roles to play in governance.

“The traditional institution act is the instrument for coordinating various social-economic activities at community level of the society.

“They have, for a long time, been social agents as well as mass mobilisation facilitators in various communities in Nigeria.

“The roles of traditional rulers in conflict resolution include reconciling and integrating parties in conflicts without rancor.

“They also contribute to the maintenance of law and order in the communities and promote the use of informal settlements,’’ he stated.

The YYC president further suggested that traditional rulers in the country should be given a clear constitutional role as the fourth tier of government in maintaining the security apparatus in their respective domain.

“We implore the Federal Government to allow the traditional rulers to maintain the internal security of their domains with other government security apparatus,” he said.