Same Jaded template: Precipitate insecurity, demand for president resignation won’t work this time, by Kola Amzat

Suddenly, the South West geo-political zone has become a haven of militia and banditry. The criminals have turned hitherto a very peaceful and orderly zone to the epicenter of mayhem and pandemonium.

Presently, the people of the zone live under the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

Instructively, of all the six geo-political zones, South West until in recent times has remained the only zone where commerce, socio-political activities, education and other human endeavors thrive and blossom with seamless ease.

Lagos, Oyo and Ogun states-key components of the zone have for long been the choicest investment locations for foreign and local investors alike.

That much-cherished and hard-earned status is presently under serious attack and assault.

Bandits and armed militia, as well as Fulani herdsmen have invaded the zone with arms and ammunitions, and other dangerous modern weapons, unleashing and wreaking havoc, in human carnage with impunity.

Indeed, their despicable and destructive activities in recent times is a testament that the South West geo-political zone has suddenly come under siege.

On May 15, bandits stormed three schools in Ahoro-Esinele and Yamota communities in Oriire LG area of Oyo state, abducting pupils and teachers and plunging their families and relatives into anguish and pain.

As I put up this piece, a mathematics teacher-Michael Oyedokun who was amongst the captives had been gruesomely murdered.

On a related note, gunmen struck in the early hours of June 03, in Ibadan abducting a young woman reportedly to be the younger sister of immediate past Power Minister.

The woman was kidnapped alongside her twin sons in the economic nerve centre of Ibadan metropolis-Challenge. 

Prior to the aforementioned, there have been several kidnapping incidents along Akure-Owo highway. Farmers have been brazenly attacked and murdered in their farms in Ogun state. Of course, it’s already in the public domain of several assaults on traditional rulers in Ekiti and Ondo communities.

The pattern, modus operandi, tactics and timing of these horrendous assaults on Yoruba race only pointed to one fact: campaign calculated to incite the Nigerian populace against the government, and more importantly, designed to frustrate the re-election of President Tinubu.

The primary motive of the financiers and sponsors of these despicable attacks remains: to create widespread mayhem and atmosphere of confusion in the South West zone to render the zone ungovernable.

In addition, make mince-meat of the president’s much-vaunted economic glory and records both as helmsman of Lagos and now as the president, and turn his die-hard faithful and millions of his followers in South West against him, a development that is projected to ultimately precipitate uncertainty and despair both in the polity and society at large.

Of course, the president’s legitimacy as a symbol of nation’s power and authority is derived from his South West descent.

The general view is that he shouldn’t have any qualms deploying resources to secure his home base, at least. So, if his South West heritage is under sporadic attacks, the nation’s economic nerves would lie prostrated.

Its projected by the adversaries that the economic and socio-political activities in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo would likely come to a halt, with the negative impact reverberating across the land, even, including Abuja and with this, the government adversaries and band of opposition would capitalize on the dire situation to gain undue advantage in their bid to unseat the president in the forthcoming polls.

The aforementioned provided justifications why the attacks and continual assaults on the defenseless and hapless citizens simply to discredit the government have assumed a horrendous dimension few months ahead of the general elections.

To the sponsors and major financiers of banditry and militia on the good people of South West zone and Nigeria at large, they’ve miscalculated. They’ve missed the point.

Their strategy to discredit the president through hoping setting Nigerians against him would not work. Nigerians are now wiser. The politically-savvy and informed citizenry are well aware and conscious of the motive of the band of oppositions.

The people therefore abhor in all ramifications their strategy rooted in kidnapping, spilling of human blood and causing mayhem across the land with a view to inciting the populace against the government, and more importantly, frustrating the re-election bid of the president.

Meanwhile, it’s also important to emphasize to Nigerians that combating the scourge of insecurity in all its forms is a collaborative effort between the citizenry and the government, as an attack on one Nigerian is an attack on all.

I also intend to deploy this medium to suggest to government key security measures and strategies that could be deployed to combat the plague of insecurity both in short and medium term horizons:

Short term measures encompasses, but not limited to the followings:

·       Registration and regulation of the activities of herdsmen with the relevant government agencies.

·       Dismantling illegal settlements in deep forest areas

·       Swift prosecution of bandits and militia group members, and with maximum penalty, if found guilty.   

·       Establish formal reporting channels for suspicious activities within communities across the land.

·       Immediate prosecution of people involved in incitement of violence and mayhem.

·       Strengthening intelligence-led operation and deployment of surveillance equipment 24/7 tracking of banditry

·       Improve coordination among the military, police, intelligence agencies and local authorities.

·       Disrupt criminal sources of funding and finance, as well as freezing their assets

·       Secure vulnerable areas 24/7

Long term measures includes but not limited to the followings:

·       Reduce teeming youth’s unemployment and poverty level particularly in conflict-prone regions.

·       Restore farmer-herder disputes through land-use reforms and conflict resolution mechanisms.

·       Improve border security with collaborative efforts of neighboring countries.    

·       Strengthen education, governance and anti-corruption conflict

·       Expand economic opportunities in regions vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups.

Finally, I need to emphasize that insecurity is a global challenge and not peculiar to Nigeria alone, especially, with the consequences of prolonged war and wide-spread carnage in the Middle East countries of Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria a develop that has unleashed mayhem and large-scale violence from the resultant groups-ISWAP, HAMAS, TUAREG etc on the global community, including Nigeria.

It’s therefore absurd, preposterous, parochial and condemnable for a group of people or band of opposition in any part of Nigeria to attempt to invoke an old, jaded, archaic and obsolete template anchored on deploying armed militia and banditry to cause widespread insecurity across the land, a template aimed at inciting populace against the president, with ultimate agenda of demanding for the president resignation.

The evil agenda is bound to fail and it has already failed.

Obviously, Nigerians would not sacrifice a resourceful, visionary, focus, large-hearted, developmental and service-centric president, with deep and genuine love and affection for Nigeria and her teeming population on the altar of organized insurgency designed to halt the president’s comeback bid.                           

Kola AMZAT (FCA, FCIB),

09077509348, [email protected]