Insecurity: Southern governors’ resolution

IN a bid to find pragmatic solutions to some of the problems bedeviling the region and the country at large, members of the Southern Governors Forum converged on Iperu, Ogun State, recently, rolling out new measures aimed at strengthening security coordination and regional development. The gathering hosted by the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, also had in attendance political and traditional leaders. In a statement posted on his X handle, Abiodun, chairman of the forum, said that it agreed on a series of resolutions designed to strengthen regional security, improve intelligence sharing, and deepen collaboration between state governments and traditional authorities.

Following the meeting, the governors adopted a number of resolutions. These include the creation of a zonal security fund to which each of the zones (South-West, South-East and South-South) will contribute for zonal security operations and capacity‑building; monthly zonal security coordination meetings by security advisers from the zones to improve collaboration, the adoption of a modern, technology‑backed intelligence‑sharing framework for real‑time monitoring and cross-state response and renewed push for constitutional amendment to establish state police. Other resolutions involve collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to roll out a single resident ID system across the southern states; equipment, logistics, and operational backing for hunters’ associations, community surveillance units, etc; partnering with traditional rulers to regulate land allocation, curb illegal mining, and protect the environment; and direct financial and operational support to traditional councils to boost their role in security and governance.

Prior to the meeting, governors of the South-West states had met in Ibadan, Oyo State. At that meeting, they resolved that the creation of state police could no longer be delayed and that the region must adopt new measures to protect its residents. Consequently, they resolved to set up a South-West Security Fund to be managed through the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission. According to them, the fund will be overseen by security advisers from all six states, who are expected to meet monthly. To strengthen coordination, the governors also approved the creation of a digital intelligence-sharing system that will operate across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states. The platform is expected to enable real-time alerts, data exchange and joint response to threats affecting the zone.

To say the very least, the security situation in the southern states, and indeed across the country, is dire. Kidnapping, armed robbery and terror attacks are routine. Time and again, nomadic herders have carried out large-scale attacks that left vast numbers of communities completely devastated. They have sacked communities, murdered travellers on the highways, raped women and girls, and slaughtered hapless and defenseless men in cold blood. They have stormed worship centres and slaughtered worshippers in bestial rage, kidnapped and killed traditional and community rulers, farmers and students, and hacked farmers who dared to resist their atrocities in pieces. They have set farmlands on fire, causing untold economic and ecological damage, and that is even when they are not leading cattle to destroy plantations, causing the owners to wonder why their government has chosen to abandon them to their ugly fate. There is also the problem of the so-called unknown gunmen who have made life in the South-East a nightmare. Only on Sunday this week, two persons, including the wife of a cleric, were reportedly killed by gunmen who invaded the St. Andrews Anglican Church, Isiokwe, in the Lilu community of Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. The terrorists were said to have burnt vehicles and the priest’s apartment.

Against this backdrop, it is noteworthy that the forum reaffirmed its support for the establishment of state police. But this is not the first time that the governors have met and articulated a robust resolution. Time and again, the governors, the Presidency and the National Assembly have canvassed state policing, the most crucial aspect of the various resolutions, but such advocacy has not been translated into concrete action. At a point, President Bola Tinubu himself promised to address certain political issues delaying the actualisation of state policing and we encouraged him to address any such factors decisively and give Nigerians an opportunity to escape the clutches of gun-wielding, ruthless outlaws. But everything still remains at the level of theory and conjecture. And what is worse, the government has adopted a reactive approach that allows terrorists to dictate the pace, as it were, while it follows from behind, promising Nigerians peace. That has to change.

If the southern governors wanted state policing so badly, they could have actualised it by now, working with their counterparts in the North, the Presidency, the two arms of the national legislature, and the leadership of the state Houses of Assembly. At the moment, like in the recent past, what we have noticed is rhetoric and promises, not action. The governors must rise above rhetoric,  close ranks, and network widely. We support their planned funding zonal security operations and capacity‑building, technology‑backed intelligence‑sharing framework, equipment, logistics and operational backing for hunters’ associations, community surveillance units, and partnership with traditional rulers to regulate land allocation, curb illegal mining, and protect the environment. These are all good initiatives that deserve the support of all right-thinking Nigerians, provided that the governors back up their resolve with action. The ball is in their court.