The Senator representing Central Senatorial district of Cross River state in the National Assembly, Senator Eteng Williams has advocated for a distinct constitutional role for traditional rulers in Nigeria as a panacea in conflict resolution in various communities nationwide.
Chatting with some newsmen in Calabar, Senator Eteng said, “the traditional Rulers have a key role and that is why some of us are proposing an amendment to the constitution where we should have a role for traditional rulers.
“We need the traditional rulers to have a role constitutionally that will help in conflict resolution the best way of conflict resolution is when you nip it in the bud.
“Sometimes you start from the family and you know that our traditional Rulers should have a role and we know ourselves when we talk about our community”.
Senator Williams who is the immediate past Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, said, “every community knows one another , we know the bad ones and the good ones they will call the family head and say come, they can be tamed”.
Eteng who is the current Senate Committee Chairman, Upstream Petroleum Sector, appealed to his constituents to shun every form of violence clash in this year’s farming season that is around the corner.
He rather advised waring communities to always use dialogue to resolve conflicts as that is the only option acknowledging that most farming seasons come with communal clashes over farm lands when simple dialogue would have resolved the differences that led to the clashes
Senator Williams said dialogue is the only option and condemned the reported incident of attack in Nde community of Ikom local government and called on the security agencies to double their efforts to bring to book those behind the attack that recorded the killing of not less than two persons and adoption of many others.
He assured his constituents of good representation in 2024 adding that he has so far attracted a number of developmental projects to the Central Senatorial district.
These he said include the road from Adim to Ndigbe another road in Obubra across the river where they never had a road as well as the Ugep – Abomeghe, Ikom to Obudu road which are all captured in the 2024 Budget.
Other projects he said include “water, schools, renovations, solar lights that I have been able to capture in my very first budget and all these things will be executed this year”.
Senator Williams disclosed that as the Chairman of the Petroleum Upstream Committee in the Senate, the turn around maintenance of the refineries this time is a reality and the Senate is as well looking into the issue of oil theft in the country with a commitment to nip same in the bud.
