From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, met with state deputy governors of the federation, over misunderstandings that usually erupt from boundary disputes.
At the meeting in the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, the vice president said it became necessary to convene the meeting to enable all stakeholders in boundary issues understand the Act establishing the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and roles they must play to mitigate misunderstandings henceforth.
Declaring the meeting open before it went into an executive session, Osinbajo, who is also the chairman of NBC, acknowledged that politicians were in the habit of playing games with lands, ignoring the attachment and emotions people have to their ancestral land hence resulting into boundary issues.
NBC established in Nigeria under CAP 238 of 1990 is responsible for controlling the activities at the borders Nigeria shares with other countries. It is also tasked with forestalling the inflow of contraband and illegal materials into the country as well as resolving issues that may arise between Nigerian states that shares borders.
While many states in the country have inter-boundary disputes, which sometimes result in communal clashes and deaths, the NBC, as the regulatory agency, has deployed efforts to amicably resolve them.
Deputy governors who double as state chairmen of the boundary commissions present at the meeting included Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Taraba and Yobe.
Ministers present at the meeting were that of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyeama, Defence, Bashir Magashi and regional members of the NBC.