Oredola Adeola|
The South West Governors have agreed to review their liberal policy of openness in the region and adopt community and state policing. These were part of the strategies discussed at the maiden edition of the South West Security Summit, organised by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN).
The Chairman of the South West Governors Forum and Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, led the Governors of the six states in the South West, to the summit held at the Theophilus Ogulesi Hall, Opposite UCH, Queen Elizabeth Road, Ibadan, Oyo State.
This is coming against the backdrop of the ugly trend of insecurity in the South West region of the country.
The host Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State in his opening remark disclosed that the advantages of state police far outweighs the fears people have about it.
He said,"Governors, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone in our midst, indigene or alien resident is assured of security of their life and property. We also know that there are barriers preventing us from carrying out this constitutional responsibility to the fullest measure.
" One of those barriers is the fact that we do not control the security apparatuses in our states. We are grateful that the Federal Government is finally giving due consideration to the creation of state police.
"You will agree with me that the advantages of community policing far outweigh whatever fears people may be expressing against it. We have reached that point in our national consciousness where we can no longer tarry, the time to act is now!," the Oyo State Governor concluded.
However Arakunrin Akeredolu who later declared the summit open, disclosed that the South West Governors must begin to take the issue of Security very seriously especially now that the region is faced with a high spate of insecurity threats.
He further said, the South-West states had been peaceful and accomodating to people from other parts of the country and beyond since time immemorial untill the recent strange occurrences such as kidnapping, armed robbery, killing and drug abuse, among others in the region.
He asked all the South-West governors to collectively rise to protect their people. According to him, "As leaders of our people, we cannot afford to be emotive in taking decisions for their benefit.
He further said, " Any step taken must reflect the collective will to protect them. No sacrifice is too much to preserve this heritage of peace and prosperity.
"We should be particularly worried by the current spate of an insidious phenomenon, hitherto unknown and uncommon in our immediate clime, creeping into our erstwhile peaceful and prosperous ambience.
"Our collective goal should be the security of our space and safety of our people in all ramifications. On this, there should be no compromise.
"We must, consequently, be proactive in tackling the current security issues.
"The adoption of a scientific approach towards the resolution of the current crisis will bear far-reaching effects.
"Our people stand to benefit from our resolve to ensure that they remain at the centre of all permutations and considerations.
"Partisan colouration should not delimit the extent of collaboration aimed at maximum service for our people.
"With shared yearnings for the development of the region, there should be no difficulty in agreeing to provide the best services possible in the interest of our people," Arakunrin Akeredolu suggested.
According to him, the insecurity in the region should compel a broader and open-minded analysis of the strange occurrences with a view to ascertaining the real reasons responsible for the disquiet.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state, on his part, suggested the adoption of state and community policing,
According to him, this has the potential to be truly effective by building strong links and leveraging on local intelligence working closely with members of the communities.
"It is important that we do not fail as chief security officers of our states and that we exhaust all options in our bid to continually protect lives and property.
" .We need to continue to engage about state and community policing without breaking the Law," he concluded.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said " As we focus on crime itself, we must address the causes as well. A crime is a crime, there is no Yoruba crime, there is no Hausa crime, there is no Hausa crime.
" We have to talk about climate change and its importance for criminality. We must ensure that the security operatives work together to address emerging security challenges.
"We have completed a new high court and reconstituted the State council meeting which has not held in the past four years, we have also invested in drone technologies to track and arrest criminals in the State.
" In order to tackle crime comprehensively, we have to also tackle poverty, and without a doubt, all of us have come to the conclusion that we must devolve policing to the local level," he affirmed," Dr Fayemi stated.
Dr. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State said, "There is need for Modern crime fighting technology that can assist the security operatives in tacking crime.
"We are making measures to get our youths gainfully employed to reduce crime rate in the State. Ogun State will not condone hooliganism , cultism and other vices..
" We support the establishment of state police, while the involvement of traditional rulers, political leaders cannot be overlooked in tackling security challenges," the Ogun state Governor remarked.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola noted that the current police structure is too thin to tackle the current challenges facing the region.
He said, " Nigeria is grossly under-policed and the Police Force is sorely underfunded. Contrary to the United Nations’ ratio requirement of one police man to 400 citizens, the Nigeria Police has less than 400, 000 officers to cover 180 million people. The Force said it needs 155,000 more men to police the nation’s population.
"The implication of the above is that we need to recognize this situation as an emergency and treat it as such. The Police should be adequately funded and provided with enough personnel and other logistic.
He concluded that on account of the security challenges facing the region, it is time to revisit the call for state police as local officers are better suited to secure communities in South West.
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