The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has emphasized that local community development is essential to ending insecurity in Nigeria.

He argued that granting full autonomy to local government areas (LGAs) is crucial for addressing this issue.

General Lagbaja made these remarks during a Nigerian Army celebration in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Friday. He stressed that without development in local communities, it would be challenging to eradicate insecurity in the country.

“Why are the elites resistant to local government autonomy, which people are clamouring for? The surest way to bring development to the grassroots level is to ensure local government autonomy. It’s not by establishing commissions or bureaucracies. We have already established bureaucracies. Until we take development to the grassroots level, we will not solve the problem of insecurity,” he stated.

General Lagbaja recalled, “For those familiar with the North-East environment, when I was posted to 93 Battalion in 1992, it was very easy to drive from Maiduguri to Munguno, Kukawa, and other places within three hours. But today, it’s not possible. Good governance at the local level is non-existent, and that’s what’s driving insecurity in the country. This is not only in the North-East but also in the North-Central and other regions.”

Previous attempts to grant autonomy to the local government system in Nigeria have been rejected by state governors. However, the federal government is making moves to grant autonomy to LGAs.