Southwest’s Amotekun Renews Agitation for Nigeria’s Restructuring
POLITICS DIGEST – As the Southwest Governors met in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital to launch the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), popularly called Amotekun, fresh agitation for national restructuring looms.
The initiative came to reality on Thursday when the governors of the region formally kickstarted it after months of agitations over the spate of insecurity in the region.
According to Ekiti State Governor and the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Kayode Fayemi, the initiative is a “policing arrangement close to our people in their various communities.”
But the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday described the launch of the scheme as an indictment of the Federal Government, saying it lends credence to the notion that the country’s security architecture has failed.
According to the south-east group, the development indirectly amounts to restructuring, a position it (Ohanaeze) has always advocated. It also warned that with the existing security architecture, Nigeria would continue to face serious challenges.
Ohanaeze’s Deputy Publicity Secretary Chief Chuks Ibegbu, said, “What the southwest governors have done is what you have where the Federal Government has failed in its responsibilities. When you ethnicise and nepotise the security architecture in the country, and instead of going for those with capacity and capability, you are looking at other variables, then this is the kind of thing you are inviting.
“People are now resorting to self-help. It is a big indictment of the Federal Government. I commend the governors for coming together to do this. It is an anomaly because it is an invitation to self-help. It is the duty of the Federal Government to protect the life and property of every Nigerian.”
He said further: “Nowhere is safe. There is killing daily in Kogi, Adamawa, Abuja, Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba and what have you. Travelling is not safe any longer. The north has become almost a no-go area. The Federal Government has abdicated its responsibility.”
He challenged southeast governors to follow suit, urging them to energise the anti-grazing bills they enacted and mobilise resources for the forest guard initiative, which they agreed upon last year.
It is unclear whether northwest states comprising Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna, may sooner or later replicate what the southwest governors have done, even as the region continues to groan under the weight of banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes.
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Late last year, Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari had admitted that the military was becoming overstretched in its bid to maintain internal security. The governor, during a visit by Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, Abuja, Maj-Gen Leo Irabor, was quoted as saying: “We are overstretching the military. We are exposing the military too much. Too much contact with civilians certainly will negatively affect members of the armed forces one way or the other.”
He had however merely considered ways to “really equip and train the police or the mobile arm of the police to be in a position to respond to civil issues.” Urging the Federal Government to equip the police or revive the defunct National Guard, Masari said: “I believe if we do that, we may not necessarily need the military to come in, other than providing support in terms of training.”
Responding, Mike Udah, Media Director of the Southeast Governors’ Forum, said governors of the region remain committed to protecting their people, even as he disclosed a willingness to implement the forest guard scheme. He said Enugu State had already taken the lead and that the initiative would soon encompass other states.
Highlighting the need for funding, Udah maintained that circumstances in the states were varied. Nevertheless, he noted that security would remain a priority in the governors’ deliberations.
But the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) described the launch of the outfit as an affront to Nigeria’s security and a threat to national unity.
In a statement, the group’s president, Mallam Isah Abubakar, said: “Operation Amotekun is OPC’s military wing in disguise and much in the same league with the proscribed IPOB terrorist organisation. The president must not allow this unconstitutionality to prevail. Southwest governors must desist from backing nefarious groups such as this. Amotekun is a threat to peace and national security and any attempt to jeopardise Nigeria’s sovereignty.”
He added: “The group is not different from Boko Haram and the IPOB movement. We call on the Nigeria Police, DSS, and the military not to take this lightly with the governors. The National Security Adviser should promptly take steps that will avert this looming threat to our national security.”
However, backing the outfit, the Aare Onakankanfo of Yorubaland, Otunba Gani Adams, said: “The issue of Operation Amotekun is a welcome development. I can say authoritatively that Yoruba people are very happy with this initiative and anybody criticising it is either a sadist or that such a person does not value life.”
According to Adams, Amotekun differs from state police. He said: “We agitate for state police. But in the absence of that, something must be done. State police is a constitutional issue that would require amendment of the constitution. But a security outfit that will be controlled by governors is highly necessary now.”
He assured that three months into its inception, Operation Amotekun would end insecurity in Yorubaland. He also appealed to political leaders in the region not to mar the initiative with their selfish ambitions.
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