Amotekun and future of the Yoruba nation

Rising insecurity in the Southwest arising from the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers forced the people of the region to cry to their governors to establish a regional security outfit that could put a check on marauding herders and other criminally-minded people. Thus, came the establishment of Amotekun. But the Federal Government (FG) soon threw spanners into the works, claiming that there was no provision for a regional security outfit in the nation’s constitution. So, the governors had to go back to work and restructured Amotekun from a regional outfit into state security commands with every state having its own setup.

But again, the FG raised its bushy eyebrow, saying the outfits could not be operational until each of the states came up with enabling law. That slowed down the process with the states applying the brakes on their plans to give room for the enactment of appropriate legislation. With the completion of the legislation and the commencement of recruitment of personnel in some of the states and even inauguration of the outfit in Ondo State, the FG has created another hurdle as it said during the week through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, that Amotekun has to be collapsed into the Community Policing System recently approved by the FG.

According to Shehu during a television interview, “Whatever name they go by, Amotekun or whatever, will be streamlined and they will be run in accordance with the structure as defined by the Inspector-General of Police. They will be localised, they will be owned by local communities, they will be managed by them.”

Many people in the Southwest are agreed that the sole rationale behind the FG’s establishment of community policing system, after so many years of agitation by different parts of the country for the same, is to exterminate Amotekun or render it ineffective. They hinge this belief on the FG’s determination to control everything in the country, adding that for as long as every security decision has to be made in Abuja, the state of insecurity in the country will continue to worsen.

It is gladdening that both Governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and SeyiMakinde of Oyo immediately rejected the idea of subsuming Amotekun under community policing.

Governor Akeredolu, while responding to the proposition of bringing Amotekun under community policing system, had said; “It will never be accepted, it is not our thinking. We have a law that sets this up. If the DIG feels otherwise, there is always a place for us to ventilate it. We are not afraid of this. The law says Amotekun will operate under its own law; it is not going to be subsumed under any setup. No.”

He had added, “We will not collapse Amotekun for community policing. It will stand on its own. There is no intimidation. We are not people that can be intimidated or that the IG will give orders to. We will not. Amotekun is different. Community policing is different. If the IG does not understand, he will leave one day and other people will understand.

“We will work together, it is collaboration, not that it will be subsumed. The law is there and if anybody finds a fault in that law, we can go to court and ventilate whatever position in it. The DIG is totally wrong, Amotekun will not be subsumed under the community policing.”

Speaking in a similar vein while addressing caretaker chairmen of local governments and LCDAs during the week, Makinde had said, “I am saying it for the whole world to hear that Amotekun is here to stay with us and it will not be under the control of the federal establishment. It will be under our control.

“Security of our people is extremely important and nothing can take place as far as we are concerned in an atmosphere of insecurity and Oyo State is a very large area. In terms of landmass, we are more than all the states in the Southeast put together. So, we have a lot to do to secure these areas. We have international borders, there is smuggling taking place, they killed a customs officer in Saki a few weeks ago and those things are not acceptable to us.”

The issue of Amotekun is both legal and political. But one fact that should not be lost by the people and leaders of the Southwest is that the struggle for the control of Amotekun is the fight for the future of the region and Nigeria as a whole. If Amotekun lives, there is a future for the Southwest in the Nigerian arrangement. But if it dies, the Southwest will continually be subjugated in the Nigerian federation. What the FG is attempting with muscle flexing over Amotekun is to test the will of the Southwest people to know whether they will stand for their belief or succumb to browbeating.

Therefore, state governors should not sacrifice the interest and future of the people for political correctness. The Amotekun challenge is a fight for the real independence of the Yoruba people of the Southwest. Those who stand on the side of the people and fight for their liberation will have their names written in gold. Those whose interest is political correctness will also not be forgotten only that they would be on the wrong side of history. This is the governors’ chance to do what is right and become legends.

 

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

CBN Pegs Exchange Rate At 386/$
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pegged naira exchange rate at 386 units to the United States dollar as it plans to resume weekly forex sales to Bureau de Change operators from August 31. In a circular signed by O.S. Nnaji, director of trade and exchange department, the apex bank said its decision to resume FX sales to BDCs is to enhance accessibility to forex “particularly to travellers” since the resumption date for international…

Council Of State Pardons Ex-Gov Ambrose Alli, Three Others
The Council of State has ratified the presidential pardon extended to late former Bendel State Governor, Prof. Ambrose Alli and three others. The meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday also ratified the pardon granted to Col Moses Effiong, Major E.J Olarenwaju and…

Blasphemy: I Will Not Hesitate To Sign Death Warrant If Yahya Sharif Fails To Appeal, Says Ganduje
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said he would not hesitate to sign the death warrant passed on Kano-based singer, Yahya Aminu Sharif if he fails to appeal the judgment. This was just as governor Ganduje said the state government has accepted the judgement passed on Sharif and is ready to abide by it. However, the Nigerian constitution gives the right of appeal to Shariff…

Southern Kaduna Crisis: We Won’t Sweep Issues Under Carpet ― Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has assured that the Federal Government will not sweep the major issues underlying the conflict in Southern Kaduna under the carpet so as to effectively deal with the situation. Speaking, on Thursday, at the ongoing Nigeria Bar Association Annual General Conference during a Special Conversation, he identified the major issues to include “ensuring justice, fixing economic marginalisation and the…

Details Emerge Of How Akinwumi Adesina Got 100% Votes For Second Term As AfDB President
Dr Akinwumi Adesina was on Thursday unanimously endorsed by all the 81-member countries of African Development Bank (AfDB) for another term of five years as the 55th annual meetings of the bank ended in Cote d’Ivoire. A globally-renowned development economist and a World Food Prize Laureate and Sunhak Peace Prize Laureate, Dr Adesina has distinguished himself in driving a bold agenda to reform the Bank and accelerate …