‘NIGERIA HAS MORE GUNS THAN FOOD’

The Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnenna Ukaeje, has raised the alarm at the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country, saying Nigeria has more weapons at the disposal of the people than food.
Ukaeje gave this warning yesterday when the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) led by its Chairman, Ambassador Emmanuel Imohe, paid her a courtesy visit at National Assembly Complex, Abuja, to explore ways of partnering with the House Committee to accelerate the pace of a draft bill before the House which seeks to transform the committee into a commission.
Ukaeje, who crafted the draft bill, said that her sponsorship of the bill, was borne out of the desire to ensure that an effective structure exists in Nigeria for tackling the problems posed by the proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons, as stipulated by the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, which emphasises a commission rather than a committee.
She said that the country is awash with these weapons and with the general election approaching, there was cause for concern.
The House Committee Chairman expressed hope that unlike its predecessor (NATCOM), the committee would be given the necessary backing and resources needed to upgrade it to the level of commission.
She said: “Yes, I may have authored the bill as it is today, but more than that, the most important thing to me is to have a commission that works.”
Continuing, Ukaeje noted that it was very tragic that despite Nigeria’s well-known commitment to the issues of peace and security in the sub-region, she is one of the last countries to adhere to the provisions of the ECOWAS Convention with regard to having an effective structure for small arms and light weapons control.
With regard to the draft bill, she said “the present day security challenges have given us the bragging rights to say we have done what we are actually supposed to have done.”
She also informed the presidential committee that at the time of its inauguration, she had certain concerns on how the committee would work towards the ratification and domestication of the Arms Trade Treaty and whether the new committee was not going to go the way of NATCOM before it - starved of funds, no clear-cut plans, and blind to appropriation.
The legislator told the committee about the enormity of its responsibilities and concluded that “there are guns, more guns in Nigeria than there is food. I am hoping and praying to God that this committee becomes a commission. I am hoping that is the intention.”
Responding, Imohe said he hoped that the House Committee and the Presidential Committee on SALW would work together for an early passage of the bill.
In a related development, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has offered to provide the presidential committee with technical assistance on the drafting, updating and implementation of legislation on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
According to the Head of Delegation and Head Mission, ICRC, Nigeria, Mr Zoran Jovanovic, they offer such assistance to ECOWAS member states to help them effectively domesticate conventions on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and as well as the Arms Trade Treaty.
Jovanovic gave this indication at a meeting between the Red Cross and the Chairman, Presidential Committee on SALW, which took place yesterday at the instance of the Red Cross.
Source: Tribune