The Senate has passed a bill for an act to establish a National Council for Traditional Rulers to its second reading, which aims to grant formal recognition to the council and facilitate its role within the constitution.
This development came as the general principles of the bill were presented and debated during the Senate’s plenary session on Thursday in Abuja.
Presenting the bill, the sponsor, Senator Simon Lalong, explained that its objective is to prevent conflicts of responsibility between traditional rulers and elected political officers at local government councils.
Lalong said that before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the Colony of Lagos to form Nigeria in 1914 by the British colonial masters, various traditional authorities were highly influential in governing their societies. This was by virtue of their role as custodians of the people’s culture, traditions, values, morals, and religious beliefs.
“They served as vanguards in handling and containing communal conflicts, crises and insecurities among their diverse citizens, also brokered and regulated commerce and industry through trade with other kingdoms.”
He said the glory of traditional rulers blossomed between the 1910s and the 1960s, during which Nigerian traditional rulers were highly influential and were in charge of native authority administration.
According to him, under the British colonial “indirect rule” system, they served as the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
“This system continued under the First Republic, with traditional rulers serving as members of the Regional House of Chiefs. However, they were sidelined following General Ironsi’s adoption of a unitary government in 1966, as well as under General Gowon’s administration in 1967 and General Obasanjo’s in 1976.”
He explained that the government reform decrees stripped traditional rulers of the powers and shared them between federal, states and local governments
Simon Lalong, however, stated that the 1979 Constitution significantly restored the importance of traditional institutions, while the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) relegated their relevance to the background.
“It is to fill this existing lacuna that I initially sponsored a bill to amend the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Lalong argued that he firmly believes traditional rulers continue to play a crucial role in contemporary times, particularly in the non-kinetic approach adopted by governments at all levels to address security challenges.
Lalong, emphasized the fact that traditional rulers were now well-educated, adding that their advice and opinions on insecurity and other national issues could help government meet the yearnings of the people
Contributing to the debate, some senators expressed reservations about potential conflicts of responsibility and advised that the bill should clearly distinguish the role of traditional rulers from that of government officials to avoid confusion.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, emphasized that the bill should explicitly define the functions of traditional rulers.
He also suggested that a public hearing be conducted to gather input from other stakeholders before the bill proceeds to a third reading.
Bashir M
