From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday met with State Deputy Governors of the federation Monday over misunderstandings that usually erupts from boundary disputes.
At the meeting which was held at the State House Conference Center, Abuja, Monday, Vice President explained that 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.
Osinbajo who is also the Chairman of the National Boundary Commission 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 in boundary issues.
Recall that 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 share borders.
Recall also that while many states in the country have inter-boundary disputes, which sometimes result in communal clashes and deaths, the National Boundary Commission, as the regulatory agency has deployed efforts to amicably resolve them.
While declaring the meeting open before it went into closed-door, Osinbajo said: “The idea of this meeting is to discuss the Act, inter-state rancour and various misunderstandings which the Commission from time to time deals with, with the stakeholders. For instance, we would jointly review the works of the Commission, we cannot stress enough that land is an emotive issue, most times fatalities evolves from land disputes.
“There has to be an understanding of who has access to land because in some cases these are tied to ancestors. But these issues should not result in violence, in some cases resolving these disputes can only be done at the highest levels of governance.
“Let me remind us that we are not here to resolve any particular state border crisis, but perhaps this meeting will review how disputes can be settled without political interference because very often when politicians play games with lands, it results in creating tensions.”
State Deputy Governors who doubles as state chairmen of the Boundary Commissions present at the meeting include, 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, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd) and regional members of the National Boundary Commission among others.