Re: Benue massacre and tragedy of Buhari’s silence

The piece with the above title in ‘Flickers’ column of Sunday Tribune, 14 January 2018 authored by Festus Adedayo, a wordsmith by all standards, makes an interesting reading. No doubt, the incessant carnage, mindless killings in different parts of the country in a very savage manner is indeed appalling. It is a manifestation of the fact that the Nigerian state is gradually moving towards failure consequent upon the mismanagement of the over-centralized federal arrangement which now has the commanding height of virtually everything from the economy to security. The snag is the palpable inability of the federal system to sufficiently respond to the three classic challenges of the post-colonial state namely: national unity, democratic stability and socio-economic development.

A number of reasons have been adduced for the Benue massacre, but my take is not about the reason(s) for the carnage but rather the hapless condition Governor Samuel Ortom found himself and by extension the situation in many states of the federation thereby questioning the capability of the octopus federal police to guarantee peace and tranquility across the country. Bearing in mind that the primary responsibility of any state is the first and foremost maintenance of law and order, any state for whatever reason that cannot discharge this duty for whatever reason is not worth its salt. This is the dilemma in Benue State today.

Amazingly, Mr Ortom broke down, weeping like a baby at the sight of the mangled and mutilated corpses of his citizens. As many as 73 of them with many maimed and thousands internally displaced becoming a refugee in their own place of abode. Ab initio, he swore to protect them when he was elected as the governor of the state. It is, however, funny and absurd that the man has been wiping-up sentiment against the Federal Government for the carnage. While not holding the brief for the insensitivity of the Presidency vis-à-vis the gruesome murder in cold blood for that matter of the victims, the role of state chief executives may need to be questioned. It is ludicrous that many governors do not appreciate or fully comprehend the workings of a federal system of government. At the slightest provocation, they race to the Presidency for succour or even blame Mr President for their self-inflicted predicament; whereas federalism is not about hierarchy. The president is not their boss. The system is coordinate. It is not part of the constitutional mandates of the Federal Government to run a state for the governor.

No doubt, the Benue massacre and similar others have glaringly demonstrated the fact that the position of the 1999 Constitution on state governors as the chief security officers of their respective states may be a ruse after all.  This is the reason why a governor should be sufficiently innovative security-wise, unlike our hapless Mr Ortom. The president had to order the Inspector General of Police to relocate to Benue when the harm had been done! In essence, the governor, state commissioner of police and all other security apparatus in Benue were unable to nip the crisis in the bud! Heads of security operations in all the states take order from the ‘top’ i.e. from Abuja. State governors who are assumed to be chief security officers of their states pathetically exist at the mercy of the federally controlled security operatives.

It is not unconnected with this fact that progressively minded governors are calling for the establishment of state police. Perhaps in the absence of this, the Ekiti state governor – Mr Ayodele Fayose – has mobilised and animated local hunters with Dane guns in the public and only God knows what outside public glare they are armed with for them to be able to rise up and defend their communities against rampaging Fulani herdsmen’s incursions. The effectiveness of this approach is being awaited in a matter of time. But the truth is that policing our communities in this 21st century by alternative means is not only absurd but an admittance of the failure of the conventional police establishment. The boomerang effect definitely will outweigh the expected benefits. The contemporary existential realities in the South-South region of the country where alternative security arrangement was made in the past when politicians recruited miscreants armed them to the teeth for their personal safety and for them to turn round to become monsters later suffice to buttress this point. The society was highly militarised with an influx of arms and ammunition. Last year alone, only God knows the volume of the cache of lethal weapons smuggled into the country through Nigeria’s porous borders coupled with those ceased by the customs. Thus, it is easy to imagine why not only Fulani herdsmen but ethnic militias too are in possession of firearms illegally.

Nonetheless, the question is: should a governor be so helpless like Ortom? I don’t want to believe so. The example of Oyo State which the author alluded to in his perceptive piece suffices to argue otherwise. In Oyo State, before the advent of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration in 2011, residents of the state could not sleep with their two eyes closed. It was an era of violence and brigandage. No doubt, a replica of the Hobbesian state of nature; where the entire citizenry of the state were living without the state in constant fear and trepidation. At regular intervals, there were clashes by various factions of the notorious National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) with heavy casualties on all sides. Remnants of the infamous garrison commander ‘soldiers’ too were also causing mayhem in the state any time they ran out of pockets.  And this was with heavy casualties. Rather than the governor – Senator AbiolaAjimobi – to fold his arms and lament the savagery in the state, he held the bull by the horn. His government floated ‘Operation Burst’, which is a joint security task force – a combination of – the military, regular police and civil defence operatives. F Operational vehicles were purchased for them to cover the state capital working round the clock patrolling the streets. Later, their activities were extended to all the nooks and crannies of the state. Currently, they cover the six zonal commands of Oyo, Iseyin, Kishi, Ogbomosho, Saki and Eruwa axis of the state. Recently, twenty vehicles were refurbished and added to the fleet for effectiveness. Coupled with that dedicated telephone numbers were advertised on the state television channels so that members of the public could avail themselves of the services of the security outfit round thwe clock. Not only that few months ago, the state government took another bold step when it floated a Security Trust Fund (OYSSTF) backed with legislation. The essence of the fund no doubt is to promote public/private partnership on funding of security in the state. It has been pooling resources for effective funding of security operations and services. Not only that, government established State Swift Response Squad (SRS) in conjunction with Oyo State Police Command in Ibadan metropolis. The outfit took off with 25 patrol vehicles with six armoured personnel carrier vehicles cum seven power bikes. This has really paid off because Oyo State has become one of the most peaceful states in the country. A feat attained by dint of hard work and innovation rather than becoming object of pity because of the ineptitude of the federal police.

Be that as it is, the state government has innovatively complimented regular State Security Council meetings with a standing committee known as ‘Inter-Religious and Inter-Ethnic Committee’. Members of this committee comprised of religious leaders, Muslims and Christians and traditional religious leaders, Hausa/Fulani leaders, Igbo leaders and indigenous community stakeholders. The committee meets regularly to review the security situation in various communities in the state by nipping in the bud, whatever could lead to the breakdown of law and order in their domains.

To cap it all, our well revered ‘Constituted Authority’ established a unit in governor’s office called ‘Community Relations’ headed by a Special Adviser. This unit interfaces with members of the public. The truth is that most of the security breaches are as a result of the failure of intelligence gathering. Thus, community leaders could easily sense danger and alert the government. It is commendable that activities of this unit have been yielding huge results. Oyo State is not completely immune from the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. Occasional skirmishes in both Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa regions of the state were usually curtailed because of the local intelligence gathering.

Lastly, the state awarded a contract for CCTV surveillance of trouble spots in the city. When fully operational, activities of miscreants in the city could be monitored round the clock. The concomitant effect of all these efforts is a drastic reduction in crime rate in Oyo. For analytical simplicity, as of December 2017, only four cases of murder were recorded in the state whereas, before May 29, 2011, 121 were recorded, 10 cases of kidnapping were recorded same year but as many as 45 before Ajimobi administration. Same year 59 cases of armed robbery were recorded across the state, but 261 before May 29, 2011. Within the same time period, 430 cases of grievous harm and wounding were recorded but comparatively, 1,119 before the advent of this administration. Interestingly, between 2014 and December 2017 no single case of bank robbery was recorded while eight was recorded on May 29, 2011. It is noteworthy to state categorically that Oyo State ranked fourth among the states of the federation vis-à-vis foreign direct investment as compiled by National Bureau of Statistics (2nd quarter, 2017).

From the foregoing, this template enunciated above could easily be replicated in virtually all states of the federation. Security of a state is primarily the responsibility of the governor. Rather than lamentations, state governors could take a cue from this model which has made Oyo state one of the most peaceful states in the country.

• Ojo is an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics, Unilorin and currently serving as the Chief of Staff to Governor Abiola Ajimobi.