Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised the alarm that Nigeria is at the brink of an avoidable catastrophe, that requires urgent actions, saying that it is restructuring that can return the country to true federalism.
In a communique issued the meeting of Afenifere’s Executive Council meeting held in Lagos residence of its acting Leader, Ayo Adebanjo, by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the group stated that the signs “are ominous, requiring steps to prevent the country from apocalypse.”
Present at the meeting were: the Deputy Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan; the Secretary General, Chief Sola Ebiseni; the Treasurer, Chief Supo Sonibare; the National Organising Secretary, Abagun Kole Omololu; Secretary for the Diaspora, Mr. Adebayo Adenekan; Director of Research, Dr. Akin Fapohunda and Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo.
Throwing it’s weight behind the recent resolutions of the Southern governors, with regards to placing a total ban on open grazing and having state police, Afenifere frowned at the disapproval being expressed by those it described as some Northern elements to the position of the governors.
It said, “Afenifere is in full support of the Southern governors to have laws banning open grazing latest by September 1, this year. We notice that some states already have this law enacted. We urge the remaining states to enact the law expeditiously. Beyond the enactment however, we call for immediate enforcement of the law, so as to put an end to various vices that the act of open grazing is engendering.
“Of what intrinsic benefit has open grazing been in the recent past, going by various studies that have been done? It is on record, for instance, that open grazing is one of the major causes of desertification that is occurring in the Northern part of the country. It is also on record that cows reared in a ranch are far more productive, healthier and are less tasking for the rearer, compared to the ones being driven from one place to another in search of food and water. And certainly those in ranches constitute less risk to neighbouring communities, compared to the ones migrating from one place to another.”
It maintained that the seeming intractable security challenges in the country are due largely to the restraint put in the way of state governors, stating that the security outfits put in place by the governors should be allowed to carry arms.
The communique added, “The governors are described as Chief Security Officers, CSOs, of their respective states, yet they have no security agency that can be deployed to where crimes are being committed with arms, a security agency that can arrest, investigate and prosecute. Those of them who came up with some security apparatus, like Amotekun, are disempowered because they could not bear arms. And when they arrest suspected criminals, such suspects must be handed over to the police.
“As experiences have shown, once this is done, hardly do such cases go beyond the police. And the state security body has no control anymore, since the Police is a federal agency who does not take order from the governor. This must change. State police, down to the level of local government, must become operational immediately.”
