The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Wednesday in Osogbo, Osun State capital x-rayed the insecurity challenges plaguing Nigeria and identified injustice and collapse of value system as factors fuelling insecurity. in the country
They also said that the active involvement and collaboration with the traditional institution on the part of government would go a long way in tackling banditry and wanton killings in Nigeria.
The duo spoke at a National Summit on Insecurity and Security: Roles of Traditional Institution organised by the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), in Osogbo.
According to Abubakar, “there cannot be peace and security if there is injustice in any society. Similarly, good governance cannot thrive if there’s injustice. Nigerians should be bold to speak the truth. Don’t feel threatened by any governor, politicians or traditional rulers.
“We have a crisis of value. How do we degenerate into kidnapping, killing people without taking anything from them? Killing people in the name of what. Somebody mentioned there a pastor faking his own kidnap. Why did we go down so low? We need to go back to the roots and find out how we can salvage the situation.
“The problems with this country have always been from us the elites. We can correct the issues in this country if we want to. We are the ones who use the common man who doesn’t have anything to get what we want,” Abubakar asserted.
In his remark, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi charged Nigerians to expose criminal elements in the communities, saying “what we are discussing here about security is not new. What steps are taking to really tackle insecurity?”
He stated that “traditional rulers are representatives of God. They are the ones governing the towns and communities. Peoples still recall back to traditional rulers when there is a problem. When there is a breakdown of security, the nation or any society loses grip. Any leader that cannot secure the property and lives is not worthy to be a leader. Such a leader should resign honourably having failed in his responsibility.
“It is about time to know the real roles of traditional rulers. It is time to give the traditional rulers the opportunity to secure our society the way our ancestors and forebearers did it.
“To us as traditional rulers, we know how important it is for our people to be secured and be given what is right in terms of security of lives and properties. We are willing now to work with the government. Everything they have to do, their tenure lapse after the period of eight years. But, we are natural rulers that understand everything that has to do with the dynamics of the good, bad and ugly of societies.
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“We should be talking about solutions to security problems. Enough of talkshow. In the North East, vigilante groups being set up by communities, Emirs and district heads are giving the headway in terms of security.
“That is why we set up Amotekun in South West and all traditional rulers are being carried along because we know our people. Amotekun has come to stay. Nobody is pushing for the disintegration of the country. What we want to do is to set good leadership example on how to secure our people.
“I want to appeal to you that whoever is bad in your communities, push them out. Don’t harbour bad elements. Push them to those palaces and district heads and they will be appropriately dealt with,” Oba Ogunwusi averred.
Delivering his speech at the security summit, former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, expressed the conviction that it is not too late to pull Nigeria back from the brink and save the country from Boko Haram, banditry and the myriads of other security problems that are threatening its corporate existence.
Oyinlola, who is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the CBCIU, lamented the present precarious security situation in the country, saying the country had almost become the modern version of the Hobbesian state “where life is nasty, brutish and short.”
He, however, expressed confidence in the ability of traditional rulers to inspire the restoration of the country to the path of peace, growth and development, given their history and reputation as effective intelligence and security officers in their respective domains.
Oyinlola further explained that the focus of the conference on security vis-a-vis the role of traditional rulers was informed by “the time-tested truth that at all times when things threaten to fall apart for our nation, the lot always fall on our fathers to do the pull-back from the brink.”
The CBCIU, he said, “feels that this is the time to harness the intelligence-gathering and conflict-resolution abilities of our monarchs for the safety of Nigerians and the stability of Nigeria.”
The former governor added: “While the government has continued to adopt an uneven carrot and stick approach to addressing security issues in the country, it is noted that very scant attention is being paid to the huge difference which the involvement of our traditional institutions would make in calming the furious oceans of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes that currently threaten to overrun everyone and sink the ship of Nigeria.
“This conference seeks to bridge that operational gap and come up with ideas that will further tighten the noose around the neck of the enemy.”
Oyinlola commended the armed forces, the police and other security forces for the sacrifices they have continued to make daily so that Nigerians could be safe.
He also lauded governors for being alive to their responsibilities despite what he called the constitutional and legal absurdities that had made them chief security officers of their states without any power over all security organs operating in their states.
“We note the huge resources the governors of the North East, North West and North Central states daily pump into Federal Government-owned security forces to combat terrorism, banditry and other allied crimes.
“We note, with pride, the sterling initiative recently taken by the governors of the South West states to tackle and tame violent crimes, particularly kidnapping and attack on farmers and to prevent, from coming here, banditry which has almost turned other places to ungovernable territories.
“I refer, specifically, to the Amotekun Initiative which appears to have suddenly woken up the Federal Government to the urgency of increasing its efforts at securing the lives and properties of Nigerians,” the retired military top brass added.
Other traditional rulers at the conference include the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin; the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who was represented by the Agba-Akin Olubadan, Chief Lekan Alabi; the Timi of Ede, Oba Adesola Lawal; the Owa of Obokun, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, among others.
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