NAN-F-40
Peace
By Cecilia Ijuo
St. Petersburg (Russia) Oct. 16, 2017 (NAN) The Chairman Senate Committee on Air Force, Sen. Duro Faseyi, has advocated active parliamentary participation in restoring global peace.
Faseyi made this known at the sideline of the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday.
The lawmaker, who is a member of the Committee on Security in the IPU, said it was high time parliaments moved from concentrating mainly on lawmaking and oversight, to being active participants in decisions on conflicts.
According to him, the parliament was a critical component of the democratic society and should not be seen to only act from the background.
He commended efforts made so far by the IPU in making the parliament move from obscurity into participating actively in matters of terrorism, social injustice and other challenges that were making the world less secured.
“This is a gathering where parliamentarians from across the world gather to debate and take decisions about world challenges that are threatening our co-existence as a people.
“At this assembly we debate on issues ranging from politics, socio-cultural difference to economic growth,’’ he said.
He commended the commitment of the National Assembly to restructuring the Nigeria’s economy.
Faseyi said that there was a need to restructure the country to douse the tension in different parts of the country.
“There are agitations over marginalisation, inequality and injustice and one of the ways to get things right is to restructure; in fact it is long over-due.
“It is time we all come together to look at the burning issues and find a way to restructure to fit into our present demands,’’ he said.
The lawmaker said it was important to reduce the bulk of governance from the centre to states because it was obvious that the centre alone could not handle all critical areas of the economy.
He noted that this would eliminate the agitations in different parts of the country as well bring about sustainable development.
The lawmaker urged the present administration to continue in its effort at engaging relevant stakeholders in finding a lasting solution to the problems of the country. (NAN)
CJM/JPE/IS
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Edited by Joseph Edeh/Ismail Abdulaziz