Abimbola Abatta, Osogbo
Every conflict is local and as such, traditional institutions cannot be left out of the scheme.
Traditional rulers know their people and also have better strategies for engaging them. Therefore, we must ride on this to be able to protect our nation from implosion.
Osun State governor, Gboyega Oyetola said the above on Wednesday while X-raying the country’s security challenges in Abuja.
Oyetola who spoke at the 2nd Annual Colloquium of the Sultan Maccido Institute for Peace, Leadership and Development Studies, University of Abuja, noted that security, governance, and sustainable economic development are the tripod upon which a nation’s prosperity and wellbeing stand.
He explained the need to involve traditional rulers in tackling the nation’s security challenges saying, “For proper security of lives and property of our people and the prompt containment of growing challenges, we must inevitably now engage our traditional institutions.
“Governors particularly cannot afford not to look in the direction of the traditional institution.
“Aside from ensuring that adequate funding is made available to this important institution to run efficiently, our administration considers them as critical stakeholders who must be regularly engaged and embedded in our inclusive governance framework.
“This approach has yielded invaluable gains in our determined quest to protect the lives and properties of our people.
“Today, thanks to this invaluable partnership, Osun is widely regarded as one of the safest states in Nigeria.
“In our current situation, some of our traditional rulers have proactively intervened in averting conflicts in the Gold-rich zones of the Ife-Ijesha axis by managing the heavy influx of artisanal miners threatening the absorptive capacities of the local communities. ”
He further stated that one sure way to confront challenges headlong was to decentralise Nigeria’s current centralised policing system to meet the nation’s current realities.
According to him, “The nation’s expansive forests have unfortunately become the hideouts of bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals. With the establishment of Amotekun, the forests of the South West are now better policed.
“The issues that make Amotekun inevitable in the South West are the same in other regions of the nation. Other regions may wish to emulate the South West to put structures in place to rid their regions of crime.”
Noting that the government at all levels must not be left alone in the fight against insecurity in the country, Oyetola called for collective and concerted efforts to deliver the security that we desire as a nation as a people.
He said, “Our recent experience in which insecurity has challenged education, peace, economy and other spheres of life has laid credence to Abraham Maslow’s emplacement of security as one of the foremost in the hierarchy of needs.
“This realisation underscores the need for our leaders and professionals, including traditional rulers, political leaders, academics, religious leaders and corporate leaders to constantly collaborate to brainstorm on ensuring peace in the nation.
“Therefore, the quest for a sustainable peaceful society must be prioritised as the collective responsibility of all citizens.”