The Coalition of Civil Society Groups on Efficiency in Governance (CCSGEG) has urged the Nigerian Senate to drop the controversial Nigerian Mine Rangers Service (NMRS) Bill (SB 253) which it believes is needless and a duplication of the duties of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The Coalition had written to the chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Mineral Development, Ekong Simon, asking him and indeed the Senate to jettison the Bill and focus on empowering the NSCDC through legislation and budgetary allocation to enable it discharge its mandate of protecting national assets, infrastructure and a conducive environment for miners to operate effectively.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Tuesday, the trio of Comrades Igwe Ude-Umanta, convener, Guardians for Democracy and Development; Danesi Momoh, national coordinator, Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative, and Amb. Solomon Adodo, national coordinator, Rising Up for a United Nigeria, on behalf of the Coalition, criticised the Bill as a redundant and unnecessary adventure.
Also, citing the need to reduce cost of governance in line with the Stephen Orosanye Report and desist from creating security agencies for all security situations in the country, the Coalition criticised the Senate for being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians over the huge cost of governance that leaves very little for infrastructural and human development.
“While we appreciate the Senate Committee on Solid Mineral Development in particular, and indeed the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in general for seeking to improve the mining sector through the establishment of Nigerian Mine Rangers Service(NMRS), it is unfortunately an undue, unnecessary and wasteful duplication of the functions, responsibilities and activities of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC).
“It is, therefore, our patriotic and well informed position that the Senate should immediately drop the NMRS Bill and rather focus on strengthening the NSCDC and other security agencies to carry out their duties of safeguarding national assets, infrastructure and the nation’s mineral wealth efficiently.
“It is counterproductive to create an agency for every security concern in Nigeria. This is why in February 2024, when the National Economic Council came up with the need for Agro Rangers to provide security for specific agricultural areas, the Federal Government wisely relied on the NSCDC. So far, the Corp has deployed about 10,000 Agro Rangers in key agricultural areas to enhance security for food production. All that the NSCDC needs is high tech surveillance tools and not the usurpation of its duties,” it argued.
