Dons advocate empowerment of citizens to achieve inclusive devt

Empowering of citizens to find solutions to societal challenges will engender stability, peace and cohesion needed to achieve sustainable development and growth, an Associate Professor of policy analysis and security studies at the University of Abuja, Mutiullah Olasupo has said.
   
He stated this at the second roundtable organised by the Political Science and International Relations Department of the University of Abuja with support from Rosa Luxemburg Foundation West Africa.

He said there is an urgent need to empower the traditional institutions to play an active role in engendering peace in communities, saying the economic base of Nigeria is largely in the rural areas, where raw materials for industries are produced. 
   
In his paper titled, ‘Promoting peace through traditional authority, citizen consultation and participation in Nigerian public affairs’, he argued that the capacities of the traditional institutions must be built to be in tune with the modern-day administration and information gathering techniques.
   

He submitted that as the rulers of various communities, and the custodian of the people’s culture, traditional leaders have a grip of the people at the grassroots and can mobilise the people for action against insecurity in their domain and by extension the nation.