Ayodeji Ake
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has decried the rising insecurity in the country and the encroachment of perpetrators on Yorubaland.
Gani Adams spoke yesterday a Security Stakeholders’ Summit themed, ‘Towards a United Front Against Insecurity in Yorubaland’ and featured over 30 Yoruba interest groups.
According to him, the summit served as a platform to harness shared resources, knowledge, and resolve to build safer communities and ensure sustainable security for all residents of Yorubaland.
He said: “Kidnapping for ransom is already creating fear all over the country, and these bloodthirsty maniacs are already moving into some parts of Yorubaland. Everything must be done to stop them. That is why we are here today. Our governors must not just bombard people with semantics of ‘We are on top of the situation’. Yoruba people want to see action so that insecurity becomes history in the land.
“I said it before, and I am going to repeat it for posterity. We must restructure this country, and the time is now. If we are really practising democracy the way it should be, Abuja should not breathe down the necks of all the 36 states. We must restructure immediately.
“The federal government must also devolve power to states. Governors are closer to the people. They know what their people need. Aside from currency, customs, defence, foreign affairs and a few others, governors should handle the rest critical matters on the Exclusive List in the Constitution.”
Speaking on restructuring, Gani Adams said: “If we restructure, some states in the South-west can become our California, and Nigeria will be better for it. Because we have refused to restructure the country and the polity, strange elements are trooping into the country every day, and some of them are already in the South-West forests. If care is not taken, they will soon storm our cities. Our president and governors should not have waited for Donald Trump’s threat before doing the right thing.”
He maintained that state policing will reduce security threats to the barest minimum.
“It is a no-brainer that state police will remove security threats and secure Nigerians anywhere they may be in the country. This will ultimately drive and catapult economic growth and development. Is it not an insult that traditional rulers in Kwara, Ekiti and Ondo states have been killed by these terrorists?
“Any policeman transferred from Zamfara to Lagos, Enugu to Rivers or Sokoto to Ogun will not know the bad elements in such states more than the locals. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) will continue to play its role of securing the lives and property of Nigerians, but state police should be created to complement these efforts,” he said.
Speakers at the conference included Prof. Anthony Kila, a Professor of Strategy and Development, Economics and Security; Mr Abiodun Ramon Oseni, a former US Police Officer and US Army veteran, who specialises in International Security at the American Military University; and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Barr. Joki Lasisi (Retd.).
