Kidnapping: S/West govs to issue definite pronouncement this week
NEWS DIGEST–The six South-West governors will this week make a definite pronouncement on the solutions to insecurity issues, especially kidnapping currently ravaging the zone.
This followed a successful hosting of the stakeholders’ security meeting and a two-day technical session held behind closed doors in Ibadan last week.
The Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, Mr Seye Oyeleye, told SUNDAY PUNCH that all was set by the DAWN to hand over a document containing the position arrived at after the brainstorming session by security experts and stakeholders in the zone on the way forward for lasting peace.
Oyeleye said, “We discussed extensively all through Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at a technical session, with the presence of collection of experts from different sectors of security field and some far-reaching decisions were arrived at.
“I don’t want to preempt the governors who will make a pronouncement between Tuesday and Thursday.
“All the issues we arrived at will be tabled before the governors at some point in the new week who will then make a pronouncement. It cannot be a one-off meeting. It will be a continuous meeting and a committee has also been raised on the matter. The decision and implementation lie with the governors.”
The host governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, reiterated the readiness of the state to lead the struggle in conjunction with his counterparts in the South-West.
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Speaking with our correspondent, Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Taiwo Adisa, said, “I governor, Seyi Makinde, recognises that Oyo State has the largest landmass in the entire region and as a result of that, every state of the South-West is connected to the state.
“The governor is involving every stakeholder including the traditional institutions to make the state safe for all, irrespective of your state of origin, to live in peacefully.”
Also commenting on the efforts of the governors in the zone, a professor of security studies, Isaac Albert, commended the DAWN commission and the governors for taking the bold steps to tackle the issue.
He said, “Some of the speeches of the governors at the summit were very cosmetic in nature. The meeting was organised for security of the Yoruba states and not for federalism but the emergency invasion of Yorubaland by herdsmen.
“I am aware there were technical sessions where concrete steps to tackle the problems and actionable solutions were taken but we hope they proffered the right steps to our problems.
“There should be follow-up meetings. We will know from the outcome whether we are going to shake the governors or ‘shake’ them. Some Yoruba leaders are preoccupied with Abuja and are under the illusion to take over power in 2023.
“We should be tackling the issues of insecurity instead of living in denial. Yoruba people do better when we work for regional development plan. “The North has development plan for themselves, ditto the Igbos. They have PANDEF in the South-South. We should stop thinking for President Muhammadu Buhari and face our problem squarely.”
