Why Makinde’s “Operation Wetie” rhetoric is dangerous

History is a teacher, but in the hands of a desperate politician, it can easily be transformed into a torch. Over the weekend, while hosting a summit of opposition parties in Ibadan, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State did exactly that.

By invoking the specter of “Operation Wetie”, one of the bloodiest and most anarchic chapters in Nigeria’s political history to warn against a perceived tilt toward a one-party state, the Governor crossed a line from legitimate political critique into reckless incitement.

To understand why Makinde’s comments have sparked such fierce condemnation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and civil society alike, one must revisit what Operation Wetie actually was. It was not a civil debate or a peaceful protest. It was a period of “Wild Wild West” carnage in the 1960s where political opponents, their homes, and their vehicles were doused in petrol and set ablaze. It was a breakdown of the social contract that eventually helped pave the way for Nigeria’s first military coup and a subsequent civil war.

When a sitting Governor, who serves as the Chief Security Officer of his state, uses such a heinous and unholy historical reference as a contemporary warning, it carries a weight that cannot be dismissed as mere campaign rhetoric. Ibadan, the venue of the summit, was the very epicenter of that 1960s violence. To remind a youthful population, many of whom have no living memory of that era, that it started from here is less a history lesson and more a subtle validation of violence as a response to political frustration.

The Governor’s concerns about the consolidation of legislative control and the need for a robust opposition are valid democratic grievances. Indeed, a healthy democracy requires real alternatives and a level playing field.

However, the irony is that while Makinde warns of a one-party state, his own party and the broader opposition are currently reeling from self-inflicted injuries.

From the internal factionalization of the PDP to the nomadic instability of the Labour Party, the opposition’s weakness is a product of its own making, not just the APC’s dominance.

By reaching for the Operation Wetie metaphor, Makinde is attempting to externalize the opposition’s failure by framing it as an existential threat that justifies drastic reminders. This is a dangerous synchronism. Political violence does not begin with the strike of a match, it begins with the normalization of violent language.

Governor Makinde must be reminded that constitutional immunity is a shield for the office, not a license to undermine national security. Leadership requires character, and character requires the restraint to keep the ghosts of the past where they belong, in the history books, as a warning of what to avoid, rather than a blueprint for what might return.

Nigeria in 2026 is grappling with enough economic and security challenges, the last thing it needs is its leaders blowing on the embers of old fires. Democratic victory should be sought at the ballot box, through superior policy frameworks and grassroots mobilization not through the veiled threat of a return to the flames.