The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, in this interview, explains, among other issues, why insecurity is creeping into the South West and how ‘Amotekun’, the security outfit that was designed to tackle insecurity in the region has been politicised. He also suggests the reasons some governors are against State Police. He argues that insecurity has become a business venture in Nigeria, and why some politicians are fueling crises among Yoruba monarchs.

Excerpts:

Insecurity in the country is becoming worrisome. As a major stakeholder in the South-West, how do you think it can be tackled?

I think the situation is getting out of hand as the government is not providing any solution to it. As one of the stakeholders and the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, I have written to the South-West governors for collaboration, I have called the attention of the media in various fora and I have held a press conference on this issue that there should be collaboration. Security is not the duty of the government alone, all hands must be on deck so that the South-West and Nigeria in general will be secure. Another option is the state police. Every community is under a local government and if we can recruit people from the local government, this issue of insecurity will be reduced.

Recently, the president said he would not postpone the issue of state police. The Federal Government should approve state police. There can be collaboration between the state and local government so as to conveniently fund state police. Local governments can contribute 40 per cent from their allocation while the state will contribute 60 per cent.

We have had cases where the current police have been abused by those in power. Are you not worried that state police may also be abused?

The constitution will check the abuse. The court of law will check it as well. That’s why we have three arms of government: the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. That is the excuse people have been giving for more than 30 years and we are living in an unsafe country. Are you telling me that the federal government has not been using the federal police for political interest, especially during the election? But if they are concerned about political interests, why are they not concerned about security? What is the percentage of the politicians in Nigeria, those we refer to as professional politicians who have not done any other job all their life or those who abandoned their job for politics? They are not up to one per cent. Security is paramount, it touches everybody whether you are a friend of those in government, or you are in opposition, a non-partisan person, the rich and the poor. Nobody is talking about how the federal government misuses the police. The presidency will call the Inspector Generl of Police to go and seal the office of a political party without a court injunction. Nobody is talking about the president who ordered the federal police against the wishes of the governors in many states.

The politicians at the federal level and even some state governors in the ruling party, do not want state police. But you can see the mess we have put ourselves into now. Many countries have advised their citizens not to come to Nigeria. What does that mean? We are losing revenue, because investors are being discouraged from coming to our country. The image of this country is being battered every day. We are losing tourism potential while other countries that are closer to us like the Benin Republic are benefiting. We can’t continue to deceive ourselves. A multi-ethnic, multi-tribal and multi-religious country with a large population of about 250 million people must have true federalism. State police are one of the essentials of true federalism. We don’t need to deceive ourselves. Look at the way a whole monarch was killed like a chicken in Akure.

Insecurity, which gradually moved to the North-Central, has eventually entered into the South-West. What is responsible for this?

It is because we have not prepared enough. Even the recruitment into the Amotekun that we agitated for has been highly politicised. It was only the first recruitment that was made especially in Oyo State that was less politicised but others have been highly politicised. I am becoming more disappointed in the way Amotekun is being run now. It is not like the way we thought it would be. Some state actors have seen it as a place to give employment to their political followers. The issue of security must not be like that. If you want to achieve any goal from security, you have to look at the background of the people you recruit to that security outfit because it is a case of life and death. There is native intelligence that must be brought into it which is very important. Amotekun could have achieved more than what they are achieving now.

The politicians at the federal level and even some state governors in the ruling party, do not want state police. But you can see the mess we have put ourselves into now. Many countries have advised their citizens not to come to Nigeria. What does that mean? We are losing revenue, because investors are being discouraged from coming to our country. The image of this country is being battered every day. We are losing tourism potential while other countries that are closer to us like the Benin Republic are benefiting. We can’t continue to deceive ourselves. A multi-ethnic, multi-tribal and multi-religious country with a large population of about 250 million people must have true federalism. State police are one of the essentials of true federalism. We don’t need to deceive ourselves. Look at the way a whole monarch was killed like a chicken in Akure. Insecurity, which gradually moved to the North-Central, has eventually entered into the South-West. What is responsible for this? It is because we have not prepared enough. Even the recruitment into the Amotekun that we agitated for has been highly politicised. It was only the first recruitment that was made especially in Oyo State that was less politicised but others have been highly politicised. I am becoming more disappointed in the way Amotekun is being run now. It is not like the way we thought it would be. Some state actors have seen it as a place to give employment to their political followers. The issue of security must not be like that. If you want to achieve any goal from security, you have to look at the background of the people you recruit to that security outfit because it is a case of life and death. There is native intelligence that must be brought into it which is very important. Amotekun could have achieved more than what they are achieving now.Are you not worried that traditional rulers are being targeted by terrorists in the South-West?I am highly worried, I won’t deceive you. The terrorists have so far killed about seven monarchs in the South-West and some Yoruba-speaking states in Kwara. We are not even talking about the ‘baales’, the community heads in Yorubaland. In November last year, I raised an alarm, yet no governor called me to ask what we could do about it. No governor, no security agency or security officer called me. You can see that the terrorists have been attacking the people in Ibadan which is very close to Lagos. We know that a lot of attacks have taken place in parts of Oyo State and even Ogun State. In Lagos State, we know that they have infiltrated it seriously. We know that some kidnappings have been happening in the riverine areas of Epe and Ibeju Lekki, but it is not only the northerners that are involved. There are some people in the South-East and some Yoruba who connived with them. It is an agenda. Some things that happen in Lagos are like a business.

As the Aare, what have you done to reach out to stakeholders, governors, traditional rulers, among others? Are you not worried that traditional rulers are being targeted by terrorists in the South-West?

I am highly worried, I won’t deceive you. The terrorists have so far killed about seven monarchs in the South-West and some Yoruba-speaking states in Kwara. We are not even talking about the ‘baales’, the community heads in Yorubaland. In November last year, I raised an alarm, yet no governor called me to ask what we could do about it. No governor, no security agency or security officer called me. You can see that the terrorists have been attacking the people in Ibadan which is very close to Lagos. We know that a lot of attacks have taken place in parts of Oyo State and even Ogun State. In Lagos State, we know that they have infiltrated it seriously. We know that some kidnappings have been happening in the riverine areas of Epe and Ibeju Lekki, but it is not only the northerners that are involved. There are some people in the South-East and some Yoruba who connived with them. It is an agenda. Some things that happen in Lagos are like a business.

As the Aare, what have you done to reach out to stakeholders, governors, traditional rulers, among others?

There is nothing else I can do other than write letters or call them on the phone. I have written letters to the governors twice that there should be collaboration. I told them that I have no fewer than 30 groups on the ground that can collaborate with the government so that we can reduce the menace of insecurity. Last December, we organised the Yoruba Security Conference in Lagos attended by 33 groups in Yoruba land including even the major social-cultural organisations like Afenifere and the Yoruba Council of Elders which was successful. We had a communiqué that contained 14 salient points on the issue of insecurity. But after that, we did not get any feedback from the government or the stakeholders in Yorubaland. It was so funny that a monarch was killed in Akure, yet no political figure talked. The groups in Akure were also silent. Akure is the capital of Ondo State but they kept quiet. It was very strange. I then asked myself, is this the same Yoruba we had before? Even though they don’t have guns, they could have lent their voice, but they kept quiet. Everybody was concerned about the 2027 election. Must we wait until they kill us like chickens before the election of 2027? This was how these people annexed Ilorin which was Yoruba territory by causing a crisis in the 18th century. Other communities did not come to the aid of Afonja and he was eventually killed by the invaders who brought soldiers from Sokoto and that was how Ilorin fell to their hands. They are deploying the same strategy now. The second strategy they are using is religion and that is why we have been advising our religious clerics not to be fanatics but to be moderate. These people use religion as a tool to gain territory and political power from you. We have to be very careful. They are pursuing the same agenda now. Most of the communities in Plateau and Benue have been taken away. They have already suppressed our buffer zones, which are Kogi and Kwara states who are unable to defend themselves.

Does that mean you support self-defence?

Definitely, when we have state police, there will be self-defence. No government can say go and buy arms to defend yourself without the coordinating structure of policing. The only thing the government can do is to have a structure of policing. They are just wasting the lives of all these security outfits that they are giving pump action, double-barreled or dane guns. When they wanted to recruit forest guards, did the federal government consult me as the Aare to give them some of my boys? Forest security is more dangerous than public security. It is even more dangerous than community security because when you are in the forest, these terrorists come with rocket launchers, AK-47, machine guns. Yet, you now go and recruit the people who do not have a security background. Look at how they killed four or five forest guards in Oyo National Park. A lot is happening. I don’t know how the federal government will continue to deceive itself on the issue of security. Let us have state police. The people who will be recruited should be those who have a security background. Even some vigilante groups are not well-equipped. Very few of them are well-equipped, and we know them. If you talk to us and even give us a quota of 60 per cent, we will give you some people who have what it takes and have been fortified that will participate. The government can also appoint us to train some people. That is the only time that we can accept responsibility for whatever happens. If I am not involved in a system, you can’t put the responsibility on me. I am the Ambassador of Oyo State Amotekun. The only thing I did with the commandant was just to give some tactical advice.

You are a promoter of culture and tradition. If you look at the way some traditional rulers are being chosen, it is becoming worrisome, especially in Yorubaland, as they now wash their dirty linen in public.

I think some politicians are fuelling that crisis. I got some reports that some politicians in Yorubaland do not want our monarchs to unite. In the beginning, I thought ego or position was the reason. I later realised that some politicians are using them against one another. They are knocking their heads against one another and our monarchs have not realised this. Some of them continue to use social media to attack and wash their dirty linen in public. They can’t call themselves to order and unite. The politicians are enjoying the division among our traditional rulers. They don’t want them to unite for reasons best known to them. Ordinarily, we have the number one citizen who is a Yoruba person, yet the Alaafin and Ooni are fighting. He did not call them. He is the father of the nation. He is the king of kings in Nigeria for as long as he is the president. If the president calls them and intervenes, nobody will talk again because the two of them will not like to lose favour with the president. One of the reasons I have kept quiet is that I am the Aare. I have spoken to the two prominent monarchs. However, it got to a point that I called one of them and he wouldn’t pick my calls. So, I relaxed because I don’t want any of the kings to see me as taking sides as the Aare.

Although the title came from Oyo, Oyo consulted with other monarchs before giving me the title, and I met many key monarchs before taking the position. I let people know that I have to ensure unity because it is one of my roles. I think our royal fathers, the custodians of our culture and traditions, should know that if there are no cracks in the walls, the lizard would not go in.

There was a time I investigated it spiritually, and I noticed that a section of the country was sending spiritual missiles to them so that they would be disorganised. But apart from that, some of our politicians do not want them to unite, and they continue to fuel the crisis. They have successfully disunited the socio-cultural groups, security-based groups and other groups (Saturday Vanguard)

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