Facebook with Latestnigeriannews  Twieet with latestnigeriannews  RSS Page Feed
Home  |  All Headlines  |  Punch  |  Thisday  |  Daily Sun  |  Vanguard   |  Guardian  |  The Nation  |  Daily Times  |  Daily Trust  |  Daily Independent
World  |  Sports  |  Technology  |  Entertainment  |  Business  |  Politics  |  Tribune  |  Leadership  |  National Mirror  |  BusinessDay  |  More Channels...

Viewing Mode:

Archive:

  1.     Tool Tips    
  2.    Collapsible   
  3.    Collapsed     
Click to view all Entertainment headlines today

Click to view all Sports headlines today

Tinubu as nationalist

Published by The Nation on Tue, 28 Jan 2020


By Gabriel AmaluThe controversy generated by the response of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, to the proposed Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise called Operation Amotekun, was expected.After all, it is the exclusive police powers, which Malamis employers have wielded, albeit inefficiently, that the southwest governors are proposing to contract.But interestingly, instead of joining the fray on the southwest side, the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for dialogue between the federal government and the southwest governors.This column which has in the past 10 years advocated for the orderly decentralisation of police powers in Nigeria, agrees with the preeminent leader and politician.That is the way we must go, otherwise those controlling the levers of power would wake-up one day, to confront a total breakdown of law and order in the country.The Amotekun debacle is a pointer, and as should be clear to everyone, any effort to shoot down the outfit by fiat, could spiral out of control because the people are tired of waiting for an ordered decentralisation that law and order dictates.Significantly, few days ago, the President General of Ohaneze, Dr Nnia Nwodo, speaking on African Independent Television (AIT), was blunt in his claim that the 1999 constitution was foisted on the rest of the country by the military wing of those who won the civil war, arguing that it was skewed to favour their fancies.While his assertion appears incongruous to the reaction of the AGF to the southwest which ranks amongst the victors in the civil war, it is becoming crystal clear that the quasi-unitary constitution we operate needs tweaking.Interestingly, the states in the middle belt of the country have met since the birth of Amotekun to chart the way forward with respect to the debilitating insecurity in the region.One of their resolutions is the commitment to establish a regional security outfit. No doubt, Benue, Taraba, Gombe and Plateau in the middle belt of the country are under the siege of armed bandits, and a collaborative effort on security amongst the states could help.Of course, the south-south part of the country is permanently on the boil, partly because of the surrogate fights over the mineral oil in the region. So, if there is any region that needs to collaborate on security, the states are in the south-south. And so whether as Egbesu or by whatever name it may be called, a regional police may soon rise in the region, or if they cannot agree, as a group, separately in the individual states that make up the region.As succinctly argued by the protagonists of Amotekun, there is already regional police and para-military agencies in the northwest and northeast of the country by way of Hisbah police and civilian JTF.Their argument being that what is good for the geese is good for the gander, unless of course, we are living in an Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than others.They are seeing Amotekun as the solution to the massive insecurity in the region, and that is why they reacted very emotionally to the diktat by the AGF.So, when the AGF Malami barks as the governors of the southwest region take steps to set up a quasi-police structure to protect those who live within the southwest states, from the grave insecurity plaguing the country, the AGF is concerned that the enormous police powers of the federal government, which he works for, is further whittled down in the region.Read Also:How to resolve Operation Amotekun impasse, by TinubuBut, willy-nilly, those powers are already whittled down, by none-state actors, like the armed herdsmen, Boko Haram, and other organised criminal entrepreneurs.Without further hesitation, the federal government must latch onto Asiwaju Tinubus mediatory advice to address the ineffective policing structure in the country.Any strong-arm tactics of trying to intimidate sub-regional governments looking for solution to the security problem will further create doubt about the neutrality of the federal government, especially because of the crisis of confidence generated by what many perceive as the double standard of the federal government in handling the herdsmen-farmers crisis in the country.Of note, the northwest where the president comes from, and where the herdsmen dominate, is also exposed to severe insecurity. Indeed, there are also clashes between the herdsmen and farmers, even though the causa belle may be different.So, the scourge of insecurity is so high in all parts of the country that finding a common solution should be top priority. But instead, we see political skirmishes, while the insecurity monster plaguing the country raves.For this writer, without the enablement of the law, that would allow Amotekun to legitimately bear arms, investigate crime, arrest and prosecute offenders, the on-going effort may not yield the desired result. So, the call by Tinubu for dialogue is strategic.Of note, Kenichi Ohmae, in his book: Mind of the Strategist, wrote: What marks the mind of the strategist is an intellectual elasticity or flexibility that enables him to come up with realistic responses to changing situations, not simply to discriminate with great precision among different shades of grey.Thankfully, it is the southwest which helped to create the Buhari presidency that initiated the quasi-regional police; otherwise the federal government could have labelled it an insurrection and moved in the military to disperse the launch.With the great legal minds the region parades, other Nigerians are waiting for the model law that will be enacted to sustain Amotekun, and give it a fighting chance to deal with the armed banditry that plagues the region, without amending the constitution.As stated by Ohmae: In business as on the battlefield, the object of strategy is to bring about the conditions most favourable to ones side, judging precisely the right moment to attack or withdraw and always assessing the limits of compromise correctly.It will be historical if the political alignment between the southwest and northwest that gave birth to the present political dispensation could negotiate a change of the nations police architecture.So, instead of declaring war against the governors of the southwest for forming a regional security network, the AGF should seize the opportunity to advise the federal government to initiate a historic dialogue over the nations police architecture.As John Maxwell, wrote in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: How do leaders earn respect' By making sound decisions, admitting their mistakes, and putting whats best for their followers and the organization ahead of their personal agendas.Perhaps, for the country to make progress, the time to return Nigeria to the pre-civil war federal principles has come.
Click here to read full news..

All Channels Nigerian Dailies: Punch  |  Vanguard   |  The Nation  |  Thisday  |  Daily Sun  |  Guardian  |  Daily Times  |  Daily Trust  |  Daily Independent  |   The Herald  |  Tribune  |  Leadership  |  National Mirror  |  BusinessDay  |  New Telegraph  |  Peoples Daily  |  Blueprint  |  Nigerian Pilot  |  Sahara Reporters  |  Premium Times  |  The Cable  |  PM News  |  APO Africa Newsroom

Categories Today: World  |  Sports  |  Technology  |  Entertainment  |  Business  |  Politics  |  Columns  |  All Headlines Today

Entertainment (Local): Linda Ikeji  |  Bella Naija  |  Tori  |  Pulse  |  The NET  |  DailyPost  |  Information Nigeria  |  Gistlover  |  Lailas Blog  |  Miss Petite  |  Olufamous  |  Stella Dimoko Korkus Blog  |  Ynaija  |  All Entertainment News Today

Entertainment (World): TMZ  |  Daily Mail  |  Huffington Post

Sports: Goal  |  African Football  |  Bleacher Report  |  FTBpro  |  Kickoff  |  All Sports Headlines Today

Business & Finance: Nairametrics  |  Nigerian Tenders  |  Business Insider  |  Forbes  |  Entrepreneur  |  The Economist  |  BusinessTech  |  Financial Watch  |  BusinessDay  |  All Business News Headlines Today

Technology (Local): Techpoint  |  TechMoran  |  TechCity  |  Innovation Village  |  IT News Africa  |  Technology Times  |  Technext  |  Techcabal  |  All Technology News Headlines Today

Technology (World): Techcrunch  |  Techmeme  |  Slashdot  |  Wired  |  Hackers News  |  Engadget  |  Pocket Lint  |  The Verge

International Networks:   |  CNN  |  BBC  |  Al Jazeera  |  Yahoo

Forum:   |  Nairaland  |  Naij

Other Links: Home   |  Nigerian Jobs