By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

…Says 1.5% Ecological fund should go to border states
ABUJA—THE Senate Monday, said the nation’s porous borders were responsible for the influx of mercenaries, terrorists and other armed groups involved in massive killings and wanton destruction of property.

Declaring open a public hearing on “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Border Development Agency (Establishment) Act 2013”, organised by joint Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and States and Local Governments, Senate President David Mark, noted that if problems associated with the country’s borders and insecurity challenge must be addressed, adding that it had become imperative for the Bill to be amended.

Represented by Senator James Manager, PDP, Delta South, Senator Mark said Nigeria’s porous border had become worsened because the Border Communities Development Agency had not been able to champion the cause of residents of border communities.

He said: ‘’The dearth of basic amenities such as good schools, hospitals, markets and even water, make the inhabitants of the communities to cross to neighbouring countries for them.

“The spate of human trafficking in our border communities is also alarming, due to the inability of government to meet the social needs of the inhabitants.

“It is, therefore, the intendment of this amendment bill to provide a very convenient ground to enable the agency function adequately and efficiently, to improve the lives of the people of the border communities and tighten security on our borders.”

In his remarks, sponsor of the bill, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, ACN, Oyo South, said if the problems at the nation’s borders must be addressed, the issue of poor funding, especially improvement of residents, must be looked into.

He said 1% of the Ecological Fund should be accruable to the Border states and 0.5% of statutory allocation of the Border states should be made available to fund the Border Communities Development Agency.

Lanlehin said he was compelled to initiate the bill in the interest of “Nigerians in the border communities who had suffered prolonged and systematic neglect and continued deprivations in the hands of successive governments.

‘’Schools for our children, basic health facilities, drinkable water and electricity are either non-existent or grossly inadequate, making their lives miserable in this supposedly wealthy country of ours.”