By Sunny Ikhioya

It is fascinating to see the way things go round. The other day Ahmad Sani Yerima introduced the Sharia in Zamfara state and a few others followed in his footsteps, so many people kicked against it, especially from the south, what was the outcome?

The rest – as they say -is history. In the words of Fareed Zakaria of the CNN; “Do not break the rules that hold the republic together today because one day you will need order”. The pinch is now on the other foot, with Amotekun, the security outfit introduced by the south west states a few weeks ago, we have now come full circle, some are now becoming jittery, such is life, it is a turn by turn thing. That is why one must repeat here that; the solution to Nigeria’s challenges is equity, full-stop. Until we learn to treat our neighbors as we would treat ourselves, we will continue on the roll. What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. If there is Hisbah and JTF, there must be Amotekun and any other one that respective states are ready to come up with.

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It will not be in the interest of the federal government to go against the Amotekun initiative as a kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. Instead of unnecessary bickering, the question we should be asking ourselves is this; given the situation in the country, is there a need for additional security to complement what we already have on ground? If the answer to this is yes, how do we go about filling in the gaps? As it is, our security architecture as presently constituted, structured and operated, has demonstrated glaring incapacity to cope with the challenges confronting it, our collective destiny as a nation is under threat, unless prompt measures are taking, it might lead us to breaking point. The security challenges have become overwhelming and require new impetus, according to Robert Greene; “what limits individuals as well as nations is the inability to confront reality, to see things for what they are”. That is the challenge we have, we have allowed our fears to becloud our reality, reality demands that we restructure our security architecture, our fear is telling us to resist the change, again we must move forward  but how do we move forward without a change? From what we have heard and read so far, from learned and wise men on Amotekun, the Governors of the southwest states seem to be on the right path, they only need to fine tune the constitutional aspect of it. Femi Falana SAN says;”Mr Malami’s purported proscription of Amotekun is hypocritical and discriminatory on the grounds that the civilian JTF operating in Yobe and Borno states is constituted by 26000 well armed volunteers, who have been assisting the armed forces to combat terrorism in the northeast region”. For Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun state; “People and communities have engaged private security concerns to protect them over the years.

The Governors in their respective states are considered the Chief Executive and Security Officers…By what right and power which is also derived from the constitution, they can decide what form of security architecture suitable for their states and can sign cooperative agreements with anyone and any state in pursuit of that”. There are many other views expressed but I will recommend that you read the legal opinion as expressed by Afe Babalola SAN. The next issue to ponder on is this; if it is established that Amotekun can be legally constituted, what are the south-south states and others of their type doing about securing their own territories, from unwanted criminals? Must we fold our hands and allow invaders to take over our lands? Interestingly, the governors of the north central states met in mid January, to “kick start the framework for effective community policing”, everyone is looking in this direction, we must not be left out. We must take a critical look at the Amotekun initiative of the southwest and see how we can adopt something similar in our region. We must shake off our selfish and ego dispositions and fashion a way out of our security challenges.

The south south must begin to think of our common destiny, there should be reconciliation from all fronts and we must speak with one voice. If there is peace, the entire niger delta waterways will be busy and aqua related businesses, that have since died, will be revived, the seaports will begin to receive vessels from outside and the constraints of the lagos ports will no longer be a bother. All of these are possible if we put away our personal and selfish aggrandizement. Even the north with all of their military bravado, are finding it difficult to cope with the menace of insurgents and bandits, one wonders what good the Miyetti Allah group is doing for the country.

Time is ripe for every section of the country to adopt their own security measures, the benefits that we stand to gain from it are too numerous to mention. The way the nation is going, it is either we have it at state or regional levels or we face the consequences. As a people, our society is getting close to Thomas Hobbes brutish nature, establishing security outfits like the Amotekun in the region will improve bonding for the people within and without the region, when there is peace, people tend to have trust on each other. It will be easier to identify strange faces in the environment, as in the locality, everyone knows the other, so threats are nipped in the bud. Of course, there will be great reduction in crime rates as perpetrators can be easily identified.

It will also serve as a good source for employment and revenue generation, most of the idle youths in the region will be conscripted and properly trained, some offences will subject to fines and these will go into the coffers of government. Again, if properly handled, it will lead us to a true federation situation, where there will be mutual respect amongst states and people. States will , not need to depend on the federal government for everything, we can go on and on with the advantages but our leaders must come together and draw up a proper framework for its execution.

The menace of the area boys have become a source of concern to businesses and people in the south, with the constitution of the security outfits, such menace of area boys and community youths will become a thing of the past. The south south states must come together and fashion a way out of the security situation in the region. When it comes to a thing that concerns the whole north, all of the states are united without any dissenting party, that should be our focus.

This war between the Rivers and Bayelsa states governors is not good for common development, the same with what is happening between Oshiomhole and Obaseki. The region is too important to be left at the mercy of marauders and invaders. Already in some communities around us, farmers are afraid of going to their farmlands for fear of kidnappers and bandits. Uniting and having a common security focus must be addressed by the south south governors without delay.