Worried by the incessant attacks on some tertiary institutions in the country, the Association of Heads of Security of Tertiary Institutions (AHSOTI) is canvassing a review of its establishment law to enable members carry arms for the defence of their institutions.

The group, at a three-day programme tagged "Internal Security Strengthening - First Line of Defence Against Terror and Other Criminalities," which began on Wednesday at the University of Ilorin, called for a holistic review of the laws that provided for the establishment of the security section following the frequent attacks on schools.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has described good road network as a catalyst for the socio-political and economic growth of any nation, pledging that the state would continue to invest more on road construction to justify the confidence of the majority of indigenes in the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.

Ahmed, speaking when he commissioned the 17-kilometer Arobadi-Megida Road in Moro local council, built at a cost of N910, 504,035, noted that paucity of funds arising from the recent drop in federal revenue generation, which also informed a drop in the allocation to states, would not deter him.

"In recent times, tales of the challenging economic times confronting our country have dominated national discourse," he said. "I admit that these indeed are worrying times. However, we have chosen to focus on resourcefulness in a determined effort to meet our people's aspiration for quality infrastructure.

"Indeed, road construction and rehabilitation remains a key component of our strategic infrastructure programme under Shared Prosperity. The reasons for this emphasis are obvious. Good roads facilitate commerce and lubricate our people's socio-economic lives, besides playing a key role in facilitating new investment inflows."

Already, members of the association have started adopting the Gordon Brown Safe School Initiative aimed at achieving the four "Ds" of target hardening - Detect, Deter, Delay and Defeat the threats posed by sudden attraction of terrorists, kidnappers and other agents of death to soft targets, including institutions of learning.

The proposition is in conformity with the Tertiary Institution Security Act, as agreed to by members of AHSOTI during their Abuja conference in June.

According to the AHSOTI President, Col. Umaru Tilde (rtd), "the security challenges in our country today calls for a new approach if we must survive the new era. We have been openly appealing to the Federal Government to allow us carry arms.

"If some of us in these institutions had carried arms for over 30 years without mismanaging them, why can't they allow us to carry same now and train our subordinates with such arms? The issue of insecurity in our country calls for that now. We should not be doubted for competence."

Tilde, who described the activities of Boko Haram as "maddening," canvassed proper intelligence gathering mechanism to curtail the activities of the group from the root.

For the National Coordinator of ASHOTI, Imarah Okpako, the conference will be extended to cover members of the community in which the institution is located.

Meanwhile, the UNILORIN Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research Technology and Innovation, Prof. Gabriel Olatunji, urged Nigerian higher institutions not to relax their security systems in view of the modern trends in insecurity.