Buhari isn’t handling Miyetti Allah well over Amotekun—Ojo

One issue that has been generating controversy is the creation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, code named ‘Amotekun’. What do you make of the views that has trailed the initiative?

I will put the blame at the corridor of the presidency because the president is the Chief Security Officer of the country. He has under him the National Security Adviser, Minister of Defence, the service chiefs, Director of DIA, Director of NIA and the director of DSS. He have all of them reporting to him. In security and criminology, they say when people lose confidence in the state, they will take to self-help. It is because every one of us has lost confidence in the Federal Government, at least, on the issue of security that has led to the issues. The number one priority of every government is the security of lives and property – tangible and intangible property. Without security even religious activities cannot thrive, social activities will die. Without security, political and economic activities will collapse. And when the economy collapses, it affects security adversely. Why has the president not changed the service chiefs? There is something very curious about that. Is it not clear that they have become tired and expired?  Their retirement age came about three years ago, why continue to keep them? I will not blame the governors of the South-West over the formation of Amotekun. But the only thing I see there is that they are supposed to have been backed by the state laws.

 

Don’t you think that was what the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was saying?

Yes, I supported Malami when he declared it illegal because the state Houses of Assembly of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Lagos and Ekiti are supposed to pass it into law. When they do this, it now becomes law in those states.

 

But the same Malami turned round to say he was misquoted Well possibly because of the heat from the South West and some other people, particularly in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are using it as an opportunity to fight the government. It is not that the people in the PDP, like Atiku Abubakar and others love the Yoruba per say. They see it as a loophole and an opportunity to attach themselves emotionally to the Yoruba people to fight the Federal Government. It is possible that when Malami saw these things, since it was over-heating the polity, the best thing was for him to reverse. That is supposed to be the attitude of every wise man. He has not done badly because there is no law backing Amotekun. It was just a decision of some persons which is right because this protection is not for the Yoruba alone. It is for everybody that resides and does business in Yoruba land. It is not that Amotekun is wrong, but the base was not backed by any law. But, As it is, they can do that quickly now so that it can be backed by the law of the respective states in the South-West and now make it operational.

 

But the speakers of all the state Houses of Assembly in the zone have met and issued a communiqué backing the establishment of Amotekun…

It is not enough to issue a communiqué. The speakers are not laws themselves; they are not qualified to make laws. Let the respective state Houses of Assembly pass it as a bill to the governors and the governors will sign it into law in the states. Can the General Overseer of a church become the church? He is just the symbol of the church. The speakers are just speakers of their state Houses of Assembly; it does not give them the powers that six of them can sit down and pass any law. If these state Houses of Assembly want to sit down and pass a bill that will benefit them and make their billions of naira, they can sit down between morning and afternoon and pass through the first reading. Let there be an executive bill from the governors to the Houses of Assembly. Within three days they can pass it into law and the governors will sign it. When it becomes  the  law of any of the states, there is no part of the world that can challenge the law. So, let there be a law backing Amotekun, even if it is a bye law from a local government, let there be a law.

 

What is your take on the opposition to the initiative by some  groups and interests in the North like the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN)?

This is the first time I will be attacking the presidency under President Muhammadu Buhari. The president has taken his eyes too far from these people they call Miyetti Allah. Who are these Miyetti Allah? They threatened the people of Benue state and we saw the outcome of the threat. There are some persons that are backing them. One of them was pouring vituperations on the Yoruba. This is enough to cause problem and the president is not addressing it properly. Even if the president is a patron of Miyetti Allah, he should be able to caution them. If your children are doing something wrong to other children, you should be able to caution them.

 

There are those who are apprehensive that Amotekun is aimed at eliminating Fulani herdsmen in the South-West…

Those people don’t actually know what they are saying. In Yoruba land, if an indigene, even a prince, commits an offense, he will be dealt with. So the Yoruba are not after any Fulani. The Fulani are still living in my community up till tomorrow. But when you see criminal Fulani, there is nothing bad if you chase them away. If they see a thief in the North who is a Yoruba man, he should be dealt with. The purpose of Amotekun is not for any other thing than to ensure peace and harmony, security of lives and property in the entire South-West, covering even the Hausa and the Igbo in the entire South-West. So, it is not targeted against any ethnic group.