By Oso Abidemi
For yet another time, the National Economic Council (NEC), yesterday sidestepped the much-anticipated deliberation on the creation of state police, even as security concerns continue to escalate across Nigeria.
Meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the council instead approved a new Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board and endorsed a multi-billion-dollar plan for agribusiness and livestock transformation expected to generate up to ninety billion dollars by 2035.
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, said state police remains the most viable path to tackling insecurity at the grassroots, but lamented the constitutional limitations facing governors.
He maintained that decentralised policing would make a significant difference.
Despite the urgency, Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, revealed that the item was pushed forward due to extensive presentations on other national matters. He assured that it would top the agenda at the next meeting.
Meanwhile, the council focused on ranching as a key to ending deadly clashes between farmers and herders, especially in the North Central zone.
President Bola Tinubu called on state governors to provide land for modern cattle rearing, promising a full plan to replace open grazing soon.
Governors and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, also agreed on the adoption of technology to combat insecurity.
In a closed-door session, they received a presentation on an innovative surveillance and crisis response model that will use advanced infrastructure for early threat detection.
The forum expressed strong support for this initiative, calling it a step towards coordinated and tech-driven security solutions nationwide.
Also approved at the NEC were updates on the National Reserve Development Account, which currently holds over seventy-two billion naira, and the establishment of the Green Imperative Project offices across all geopolitical zones.
