One veritable take-away from the Amotekun controversy is that it has further, and perhaps finally put paid to the oft-claimed spineless character of the Yoruba race who would always cave-in to any challenger when the heat is turned on them. The stand-off between the Yoruba and the Federal government and its cronies which has seen the Yoruba not blinking first is a classic demonstration of guts, tenacity of purpose and unprecedented show of tribal solidarity ever known of the Yoruba race. The unity of purpose in their resolute will to survive as a nation in the face real danger, irrespective of political, and to a large extent, religious affiliation stands out as a beckoning lesson to other tribal and ethnic entities in the country.
A few days after, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Justice Abubakar Malami, issued a red-letter statement, outlawing the new regional security outfit, which it described as illegal. The letter triggered a torrent of diatribe between the Yoruba tribe and the Federal government on the one hand, and between the Yoruba nation and some vested political interests from the North, assuming a level of verbal war and even an open threat of war by some extremists.
In response to the Federal government’s pronouncement against Amotekun, the Yoruba fired several salvos through numerous fiery voices and quarters, daring the Federal government to do whatever it intends to do, insisting that there was no going back on Amotekun.
Among the most vocal and defiant voices was the National Publicity Secretary of Afanifere, the Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, who told South West governors to ignore the directive of Abubakar Malami. “Malami is not a court of law that can declare actions of elected governors as illegal”, said Yinka, adding that by opposing the move by the governors to secure their region, Malami is tactically endorsing the killings by rampaging herdsmen in the Southwest region.
“Is Malami now a court of law to delcare the action of elected govennors illegal? These people are taking it too far and not hiding the fact that they endorse the insecurity we face in Yoruba land. The Governors should ignore him and let him proceed to court if he has anything against their action,” advised Odumakin.
On his part, the chairman of South West Governors’ forum and one of the linchpins of Amotekun project, Governor Akeredolu defended the concept of Amotekun as a non-para-military outfit, saying that the South West governors are fully ready to ensure its success.
“We, the six South-West governors, are fully prepared to ensure that Operation Amotekun succeeds. Amotekun is not a para-military outfit; the introduction of the security outfit is to complement the efforts of other security agencies. We are prepared to ensure Operation Amotekun succeeds. It is in our quest to further curtail the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other crimes in Ondo State and the entire South-West region that we launched Operation Amotekun”.
Also challenging Mallami’s statement, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, berated the Federal Government’s action, saying the AGF lacks the power to ban the outfit, adding that it was improper for the Attorney-General to outrightly condemn the legality of Amotekun without due recourse to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly when his duties were only limited to interpreting laws. “This outfit is to complement the efforts of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies in fighting insecurity in the South West region of the country.”
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State towed the line of his colleagues. According to him, “the issue now should not be about whether Federal Government or governors can misuse Police or any security outfit. Explaining the logic behind the setting up of the security outfit, Fayemi asked: “Did the Federal Government not misuse Police in 2014? I was a sitting governor, I had immunity; I was assaulted. Go to history books. What we should be talking about is how to make sure the security institution is accountable within the frameworks of democratic control”.
Then came the reaction of the Generalissimo of Yoruba kingdom and Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams Gani Adams, to Mallami’s declaration of Amotekun as as illegal, wondering the rationale for Mallami taking such a position when similar security outfits are operated in other sections of the country.
Describing the position of the AGF as illegal, unlawful, immoral and of no effect, Adams, an open letter to the Justice Minister, said his declaration has proved some critics right that some states in the country are deliberately left vulnerable to attacks by criminals.
Adams reminded the Attorney-General that the right to life is universal and sacrosanct and that no government can legislate against it, adding that Nigerians and indeed the people of the South-West have the right to protect and defend themselves.
“I find it disturbing, your statement of Tuesday January14, 2020 declaring the security initiative of South-West governors ‘Amotekun’ as illegal. You also threatened that the full course of the law will be applied to anybody promoting the Amotekun security initiative. I don’t need to bother you about killings, kidnappings, banditry and other criminal vices in the South-West recently”.
“May be you have forgotten. I need to remind you that you are the Attorney-General of the country, not a section of the country. So, your outburst against the governors who were elected, not selected or appointed, is against the spirit of the 1999 Constituted (as amended).
“As a lawyer and a Senior Advocate, you should know that you are not the law. You are only the Attorney-General, not a court. It is only a court of competent jurisdiction that will decide if what an individual, group of individuals, an entity or a state does is legal or otherwise. So, it is only a court that can invalidate the South-West joint security initiative, not you”.
Secretary General of the council, Dr. Kunle Olajide followed suit with another fiery reaction to the Federal government’s initial position on AMOTEKUN.
Well, I’m not a lawyer, but common sense tells me that human life is sacred. It is given by God, and God does not take permission from anybody before He gives life. You don’t need anybody’s permission to protect your life, as an individual. And collectively too, people can arrange how to protect their lives in their streets, in their localities or their local governments. They don’t need permission from anybody. State governors are elected constitutionally to protect the people. And we are told in Section 14 (b) of the 1999 Constitution that the primary purpose of government is the security of lives and welfare of the people.
So, for me, we don’t need anybody’s permission to protect ourselves in the South-West states. I think we must remind the Attorney-General that the South-West is not a conquered territory. We are not a conquered people. We are not slaves who don’t have rights; our right of existence is sacred to us. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. So, we are not a conquered people, we are not slaves; we are not a colony of the Federal Government. As such, he should be very mindful of the statements he utters.
Amotekun is to protect every Nigerian or every human being who lives in the South-West, be they Miyetti Allah, expatriates, Fulani, Ijaw or whoever. Critics of Amotekun must have sinister intentions: They must be criminals, or have criminal aspirations. Otherwise, everybody should be happy that they are free to move around without any fear of being kidnapped or harassed on the highways. So, whoever has any fears has sinister intentions”.
Lending their voice to the fray over Mallami’s letter and threat over Amotekun, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum(SMBLF) described the position and directive by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami on Amotekun as “illegal diktat”..
SMBLF, in a statement, signed by Mr Yinka Odumakin for the South-west, General CRU Iheriki for the South-east, Senator Bassey Henshaw for the South-south and Isuwa Dogo for the Middle-Belt, described the Attorney-General’s directive as illegal and undemocratic.
“We consider his action as an abuse of office to suppress the rights of federating units to secure themselves and in furtherance of the widely held suspicion that sections of the country are deliberately being rendered vulnerable for herdsmen and other criminals by the Federal Government.
“We ask the Governors of the South West to ignore Malami and allow him to go to court to challenge their decision as he cannot constitute himself a court over elected governors.We are not under military rule.
“We insist that what the Governors have done is what individuals and and neighborhoods can legally do to secure their lives and property. The right to preserve your life cannot be under any exclusive list other than the list of those who have no value for human lives.
“The ultra vires action of the AGF has further exposed Nigeria as a country under command and control and governed by a conquest mentality.
“We ask Malami to tell us what makes Amotekun illegal and Hisbah legal. He should further explain to us what makes Civilian JTF legal in the North East where there is war and in Kaduna and Kano where there is no war, while Amotekun is his only illegal take. This is a defining moment to decide if we are under segregation and different laws in the country,” said SMBLF.
It was not only the Federal government that opposed the Amotekun project. The national secretary of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Saleh Alhassan, averred that his organisation is afraid that if the Amotekun security outfit is allowed to operate, it could turn out to be a disaster for Nigeria and as a threat to Democracy.
Alhassan, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, likened the initiative to the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), which he claimed has the history of heinous crimes and killings and accused those backing the creation of Amotekun outfit of planning to displace the herdsmen in the Yoruba-speaking states.
“For us, Amotekun, the Yoruba tribal militia is one of the greatest threats to democracy we now have in place. You cannot empower an ethnic militia that has violent crime,” Alhassan said.
“We are afraid because if they don’t tame this monster at an early stage, it is going to be a serious disaster for the country.
“Essentially what you have as Amotekun is OPC that has a history of ethnic crimes and killings. And the proponents of Amotekun have not hidden who their targets are. They have consistently said their target is to displace the herders from the Southwest.”
In a more extreme opinion, Second Republic lawmaker and elder statesman, Junaid Muhammed, described Amotekun project as politically motivated and a ploy for secession by the Southwest, therefore capable of inciting another civil war in Nigeria.
In a media interview, Junaid recalled that the agitation for state police started from the Southwest long before this Fourth Republic as a purely political quest which had nothing to do with security.
“Those who are at the forefront of the Amotekun, while in Abuja they are APC, but when they go back to their respective states, they are something else. So, it shows you that these people are actually unreliable. If care is not taken, they will drag us into another civil war and I don’t believe the country can survive another civil war”, Junaid warned.
At the end of it all, the Yoruba’s won, as the Federal government finally gave in, and even denied opposing Amotekun in the first place, while Attorney-General Justice Mallami’s claimed he was misinterpreted over his initial statement dubbing Amotekun illegal.
After a long verbal battle between South West governors and the Federal government, both parties eventually came together in a round-table dialogue on the Amotekun imbroglio, at the end of which certain legal and logistic guidelines and procedures were agreed to by both parties.
That was not even all. The Federal government went further to also give in on its years of position against community policing, as against the wide clamor by Nigerians, mostly from the Southern and middle best regions, as a panacea for the worsening state of insecurity in the regions, particularly in the form of kidnapping for ransom and indiscriminate killing by herdsmen.
To this effect, the Federal of Government has recently ordered the Inspector General of Police, IGP to commence the recruitment of special constables for community policing in Nigeria. The IGP has in turn ordered all state Commissioners of Police, Assistant Commissioners of Police and Divisional Police Officers to liaise with traditional rulers and community leaders in their domains to screen volunteers who would be engaged after passing the screening tests.
Meanwhile, following the triumph of the Yoruba’s in the battle of Amotekun, other Geo-political zones in the country who had earlier stood in support of the South West governors on Amotekun have signaled their intention to emulate the South West in setting up their respective regional security outfits. Among the regions that have shown interest are the middle best, the South East and North East zones.
One veritable take-away from the Amotekun controversy is that it has further, and perhaps finally put paid to the oft-claimed spineless character of the Yoruba race who would always cave-in to any challenger when the heat is turned on them. The stand-off between the Yoruba and the Federal government and its cronies which has seen the Yoruba not blinking first is a classic demonstration of guts, tenacity of purpose and unprecedented show of tribal solidarity ever known of the Yoruba race. The unity of purpose in their resolute will to survive as a nation in the face real danger, irrespective of political, and to a large extent, religious affiliation stands out as a beckoning lesson to other tribal and ethnic entities in the country.
The recent declaration of an excited Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, and leader of Ouda Peoples Congress, Iba Gani Adams Gani Adams, cannot be truer and to the point: “This is the first time, since I was born, even from history, that the Yoruba nation will be united as one and spoken with one voice” as he expressed happiness that “Amotekun has finally united the Yoruba people. This is a divine project that will ultimately be used to sack all forms of criminal activities from our land. Amotekun is the best way the Yoruba of the South West could defend their territories against the incessant visitations of kidnappers and other forms of banditry,” insisting that “Amotekun has come to stay.”
The Yoruba example is in stark contrast to the lily-livered posture of some tribal leaders such as the Igbo, who would each time sulk and skulk way at the slightest threat, even in the face of clear and evident danger posed by external criminal invaders in all forms and guises.
THE ECHO 