Forum lists loopholes in law to develop border areas
By Richard Abu
PARTICIPANTS at a sensitisation symposium on the Border Communities Development Agency Act 2003, have attributed the high rate of crime and other social vices in the areas to their neglect by the various tiers of government.
They also agreed that the trend posed threats to the country's security.
The forum organised by the Centre for African Regional Integration and Border Studies (CARIBS) of the University of Lagos, however, praised the Federal Government for enacting the Act and also creating an agency to spearhead the development of the border communities.
The symposium was chaired by an eminent scholar, Prof. Akin Mabogunje and facilitated by Prof. Anthony Asiwaju. It was attended by Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; Kwara State House of Assembly Speaker, Isa Bio Ibrahim and the Amonijio of Ijio, Oba Gabriel Adegoke.
In a statement, the participants said the absence of such law in the past was responsible for the indifference of Nigerians in the border areas, with some even contemplating whether to quit or remain in Nigeria.
They, however, faulted some aspects of the Act, which they believed could affect its smooth implementation.
The shortcoming in the law, according to them, is the composition of the border communities' agency board, which members are to be drawn from the country's six geo-political zones, without a proper identification of the zones that fall within the border areas.
The Act, the statement observed, confused the term 'agency' with commission in Section 7, which it feared could derail the objection of the law.
Continuing, the participants stated that the objectives of the agency were ambiguous and, therefore, advised that more responsibilities should be assigned to it.
The position and responsibilities of the agency's secretary, who has executive functions, should be clarified, the forum said.
Similarly, they called for a proper definition of a "border area" to forestall all forms of pressures on the agency.
To address these lapses in the Act, the statement canvassed a meeting of the 21 states, which have border communities with the Federal Government.
