AMOTEKUN: A NECESSARY SECURITY OUTFIT IN A FEDERATION
We just read in the news the statement credited to the Governor of Bauchi State and Presidential aspirant on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, Dr Bala Mohammed, on the Western Nigeria Security Network, code-named Amotekun. He spoke on the need to restructure the polity for real development. He identified this ingenuous design to save the lives and property of our people as necessary. We commend him for the rare courage exhibited at a time when it is considered expedient to cling to equivocation and outright denial of the obvious for political correctness. This conduct is exemplary.
We also salute him for his bold declaration that there can be no advancement unless there is restructuring. Aspiring politician to public office must have a clear vision of how to solve socio-economic problems. The ability to identify issues of development and the capacity to tackle same mark out genuine leaders.
It is mollifying to witness the growing acceptance of an experimentation, conceived as an exigent but integral and indispensable part of a comprehensive programme for an effective security system in a country which faces serious challenges of redefinition. This acknowledgement is an open challenge to all the States, which have availed themselves of the benefits of an outfit borne of ingenuous and audacious insistence to protect lives and property, to keep improving to clear the vestiges of doubt arising from misunderstanding or outright mischief.
It is also a call on our legislators to consider, very seriously, making laws which will deepen the current democratic experiment. The 1999 Constitution, as amended, mocks the federal status of the country. The precarious state of the polity, with regard to security and economy, makes it compelling.
We hold it as self-evident that a federal state must put in place a system of administration which reflects its heterogenous character. The Federating units must progress from the semblance of autonomy to the recognition of their unique features which justify their existence. All institutions must emerge as consequences of deliberative engagements designed to accommodate and serve all segments of the society. Social services become seamless and effective when governance is localized.
It, therefore, becomes anomalous and suspicious to insist on a central command structure of policing the polity. Amotekun points at the path to tread in ensuring that collaborative efforts among security agencies yield maximum protection for the citizenry. It points at the ostensible potentials of a nation-state sincerely desirous of mobilizing the citizens for the production of goods and services.
We are proud of our modest intervention at a most auspicious moment in the country. We enjoin all patriots to look critically into the issues bordering on the challenges faced by the country as a result of the current system. Devolution of powers must be perceived as necessary for the development of the country. There can be no meaningful progress in a system where the Federating units are treated as mere outposts for the central administration.
ARAKUNRIN OLUWAROTIMI O. AKEREDOLU, SAN
GOVERNOR, ONDO STATE
