Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in the 2019 governorship election, Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin, has berated Governor Seyi Makinde for his upbraiding of Chief Sunday Adeyemo for defending the people of Ibarapaland.
OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that Sunday Igboho, as the Yoruba activist is popularly called, had issued an ultimatum to killer Fulani herdsmen and their accomplices to leave Ibarapaland over rising cases of kidnapping and banditry.
Lanlehin, who had not commented on any issue relating to Makinde in a while, spoke in a statement personally signed by him on Sunday afternoon.
Against Makinde’s statement that nobody can ask anybody to leave any part of the country, Lanlehin explained that the governor’s statement was against against the legal right to self defense, “i.e. the right to defend one’s person, family or property against attack or threat of attack, by the use of no more force than is reasonable.”
Oyo’s rising insecurity is alarming – Lanlehin
I have observed, with deep concern, the rising wave of insecurity in Oyo State, advertised in the increasing cases of murder, armed robberies, kidnappings and all sorts of criminal activities, that have now become almost a daily occurrence. It appears Oyo State is descending into the Hobbesian state of nature where life is “nasty, brutish and short”.
From Ibadan to Oyo, Ogbomoso to Oke-Ogun, and then Ibarapa, no where can be labelled safe and peaceful, presently in the state.
More baffling, is Governor Seyi Makinde’s inept handling of the entire situation, particularly his laid-back, reactive and indecisive approach to tackling the most basic of challenges his administration can ever face.
The recent incident, whereby Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly referred to as Sunday Igboho, gave an ultimatum to the Seriki Fulani in Igangan, is a case in point. With available information, one cannot but criticise Governor Makinde, for his hasty, hollow and one-sided statewide broadcast on the incident, and his biased upbraiding of Sunday Igboho, without as much as showing empathy with the victims of the rape, kidnappings, murder, farmland destruction and other heinous crimes allegedly perpetrated by some criminal elements within the herders community, under the guise of working as herdsmen.
As usual, the governor was just being politically correct, and excessively populist in that broadcast of his, when he should have been balanced, and not appear to pander to the whims and caprices of the supposed afflicters. Why couldn’t he have invited both parties to a meeting and set in motion the process to an amicable resolution, or even pay an on-the-spot assessment to Igangan, instead of rushing to broadcast his jaundiced opinion? Till date, there is no evidence of the governor having personally visited Ibarapaland, in his capacity as the State’s Chief Security Officer.
In courage and valour, Sunday Igboho was forced to defend the people of Ibarapa, in their hour of distress, in the true demonstration of an Akinkanju Yoruba Omoluabi, at a time government; legally recognised to do so, has shown crass ineptitude and grave impotence.
Although one would advise that Chief Sunday Adeyemo sheath his sword and give Seyi Makinde another opportunity to pull himself up by his bootstraps, and rise up to the occasion.
Equally, I like to invite Governor Makinde to note that his misrepresentation of the absolute right to free movement under the Nigerian Constitution mischievously referenced in his statewide broadcast, should have been balanced against the legal right to self defense, i.e. the right to defend one’s person, family or property against attack or threat of attack, by the use of no more force than is reasonable.
Let me advise Governor Makinde not to be carried away, neither by the euphoria of office, nor the allure of power, but instead, be guided by deep introspection, wise counsel and an abiding devotion to the protection of the lives and properties of the people of Oyo State, which he swore to, on inauguration, about two years ago.
It is important to remind him that at the end of his tenure, he would be judged, not entirely on the number of infrastructure he claims to have emplaced, or salaries he has paid, but largely on the security of the environment, lives and properties, he has guaranteed and strenghtened, which will then provide the right pedestal upon which every developmental stride can lean on.
A stitch in time, saves nine.
SIGNED
Senator Olufemi Lanlehin (Solan)
Ibadan
31 January, 2021.
