Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has tongue-lashed ex-governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, over his comment that the Western Nigeria Security Network code-named ‘Operation Amotekun’ would lead to the declaration of Oduduwa Republic.
The security task force was initiated by the six South-West governors to tackle kidnapping, banditry and ritual killings bedevilling the region.
Many leaders from the region supported the initiative with some northerners kicking against it and the Federal Government through the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, describing it as illegal.
Balarabe had said during an interview with a national daily last weekend that Operation Amotekun would lead to the declaration of Oduduwa Republic.
But Soyinka, in a statement, yesterday, said Balarabe was sadly wrong with his position on Amotekun, adding that he hoped he wasn’t tragically wrong.
Soyinka said, “Balarabe is sadly but I hope not tragically wrong. I invoke the tragic dimension here because the making of tragedy, especially for nations, often begins when fears are mistaken or promoted as facts, and governments either by themselves, or together with interest groups, are enticed by fears into embarking on precipitate, irrational, and irreversible acts.
“Such acts turn out, in the end, to be based on nothing but fears, sometimes generated by guilt over past injustices, such as inequitable dealing. That is the basis of tragedy, towards which nations are propelled by a partial, or wrongful reading of socio-political realities and- history. I would like to see this nation avoid such a blunder. So, I am certain, would Balarabe Musa.
“Raising the spectre of secession is a facile approach to the dangerous, self-evident lapses in governance which Balarabe himself acknowledges in his response to the Amotekun principle made flesh. The midwives of Amotekun have repeatedly acknowledged that theirs is only a contribution towards a crisis of escalating proportions. Other states should be encouraged to emulate, not misread such initiatives, and then demonise them by false attributions. That is the certain recipe for tragedy.”
However, different groups under the aegis of Yoruba World Congress (YWC), yesterday, stormed streets in Osogbo, Osun State; Lagos; Abeokuta, Ogun State; Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State; Ibadan, Oyo State, Akure, Ondo State, for what leaders tagged ‘awareness march’ in support of the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun.
In Osogbo, the march took off around 10:30 am at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park and moved to Okefia and to Olaiya Junction all within Osogbo metropolis, with the participants eulogising South-West governors for coming up with the security initiative.
Participating in the march were members of Agbekoya, Hunters Group of Nigeria and some civil society groups.
The participants were accompanied on the march by the police, operatives of Department of State Security, and National Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
Armed with a large banner with the inscription “On Amotekun We Stand,” the participants urged all stakeholders in the region to support the security initiative since it was designed to check rising insecurity.
Speaking with newsmen at Olaiya Junction before the march moved to other parts of the state capital, Coordinator of the event, Dr. Akin Adejumo, said the participants were not protesting the seeming opposition to the initiative.
He explained that the march was to sensitise the populace on the necessity of the Amotekun security initiative amidst rising insecurity in the region.
According to him, Western Nigeria Security Network was a response from South-West governors to the heinous crimes being perpetrated in states in the region.
He said the march was also to show governors in the region that the people were in support of Amotekun and to further get more people to back the initiative.
“We are telling the government on behalf of our people that Amotekun has come to stay. It is a response to a very serious problem that is not typical to the South Western part of Nigeria.
“The region used to be known as the most peaceful part of the country for generations. That peace was being cut short by some calculated efforts by brigands and all forms of negative vibes.
“That is why we have to encourage the governors to stop the tide. We are here to show our support to the governors. For the first time, they have proved to be Omoluabi.
“They responded to the yearnings of the people. We are telling governors that we stand by them and Amotekun must survive the present blackmail,” Adejumo concluded.
In Akure, the Ondo State Governor and Chairman, South-West Governors Forum, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu declared that Operation Amotekun has come to stay in spite of pressure by the Federal Government.
Addressing members of the Yoruba World Congress (YWC) comprising different pressure groups during a solidarity rally by the group in Akure, Akeredolu said the six governors of the South-West region have resolved not to bow to pressure from any quarter on the new security outfit.
The governor, who spoke through his Chief of Staff, Chief Gbenga Ale, said “we are not ready to abandon our people. We shall stand by the people of the Yoruba race notwithstanding the pressure.”