The Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Ukaeje, has raised 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 a courtesy visit to her 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.
Speaking, Ukaeje who crafted the draft Bill, said that her sponsorship of it 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 emphasizes a commission rather than a committee.
She further warned that the country is awash with these weapons and with the general election approaching, there is 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 to the level of commission.
She said: “Let me point out the fact that 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”.
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 that ”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 stressed to the Committee the enormity of its responsibilities and concluded that “there are guns, more guns in Nigeria than there is food. I am hoping and pray to God that this Committee becomes a Commission. I am hoping that is the intention”.
Responding, Imohe hoped that the House Committee Chairman and the Presidential Committee on SALW would work together for an early passage of the Bill.
He promised to submit to the House Committee Chairman soon, the Presidential Committee’s comments on the said draft Bill.