Govs Don’t Regard Tackling Insecurity As Priority — Folarin, Afenifere scribe

Chief Ademola Folarin, a lawyer, is the General Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere.

Mr Folarin, who is the Agbaakin Maiyegun of Ibadanland, in this interview, speaks on state police but takes a swipe at governors for not doing enough to tackle insecurity.

He also explains why the Western security network, Amotekun, failed to live up to expectations in the South West.

The Afenifere chieftain also faults Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for calling on United Nations to probe the recent abduction in Oriire.

On the alleged persecution of Christians insists that all faiths are victims of terrorism. Excerpts:

Let’s start with State Police. There have been issues around State Police. Most Nigerians believe we are ripe for State Police. While the President has also given his consent and the House of Assembly has passed the bill. What are your thoughts on State Police? Do you think it will address or reduce insecurity?
I don’t think the issue of State Police is open to debate. Afenifere has been at the forefront of a clamour for State Police. We have been championing it for decades. The President didn’t just decide to do State Police. It was part of the pressure that Afenifere put on him. Yes, because when we met him in March 2024, State Police was one of the things we demanded. Since then, we have not stopped demanding it. I say it’s not open to debate. Has anybody criticised the President for creating more army formations? Why is he doing so? It’s simple logic. Anybody arguing against State Police, I’m sorry, probably doesn’t understand governance and the issue of security. Look at America; they have bases in different parts of the world. You cannot police a country from one central command. You have to decentralise it. That is consistent with the system of government we practise, which is the federal system. The states are coordinates; they are not co-equal. I hope people understand the difference because most people don’t. State Police is something we should have had for decades. Anyway, we had Regional Police. So, the argument against State Police is pedestrian because they say it may be abused. But the Federal Government abuses federal police, so should we scrap it? You saw what happened in Osun just a few days ago. That’s federal police appearing to harass the state apparatus. Should we scrap the central police because of that?

Well, the first point is, we created Amotekun a few years ago. Have the governors abused their powers under Amotekun? I think we’re overflogging it. And then you cannot give somebody something with one hand and take it with the other. Yes, we need to have guardrails. There’s no doubt about that. Not just for State Police, even for federal police because it’s also open to abuse. In terms of abuse, the states don’t have a monopoly on the tendency to abuse. The federal government can also abuse it. Olusegun Obasanjo did it. For instance, the current State Police bill, for me, is a welcome development. We have praised it. But it’s not consistent with the fundamental principles of federalism. You say you create a State Police, but the governor must seek approval of the police council to appoint. Approval of the police council to sack. Does that make sense to you? Then, the commissioner of police can, at his discretion, refuse to obey an order of the state or the governor, because he thinks it’s illegal. Why should he decide that? And what does he do? It doesn’t make sense. You see, there must be mutual trust if we want this country to grow. Afenifere commended the president for having the courage, despite resistance from familiar quarters, to have the courage to establish State Police. We need it. But we need State Police, not federal police pretending to be State Police. It is a good starting point. We have to start from somewhere. At least now, live arms will be moved to the concurrent list, which is one of the main defects of the Amotekun set-up. They can’t carry the kind of arms they need to carry. Now, State Police can do so.

Basically, we welcome State Police, but we think that it should be ridded of its federal shackles. We don’t say that it should not be moderated, but there’s too much. It’s like, what are we afraid of? If you really want governors to have the appropriate tools to fight terrorism and all the banditry, you must give them the power to do so.

So, rather than say the governor cannot sack unless you go to the centre, why don’t you go to the State House of Assembly? Or a special arrangement where maybe the state Chief Judge does that. If you look at the State Police Council, out of about 11 members, the governor appoints only five. So, is it his council? I can understand where we’re coming from, because we have not outgrown this tendency to disintegrate the country. We’ve not outgrown it, unfortunately.

I think it’s our politicians who are taking us backwards rather than forward. But even then, the greatest hassle to our existence as we speak, as a nation, is insecurity through banditry, terrorism and things like that. Every tool that we can deploy, including weapons that we can deploy, we should do so in a holistic manner.

Not all terrorists have killed. Those who have killed should be tried for murder, dealt with as you normally would deal with murderers. I don’t think they should have a special concession in terms of that.

What then is the basis of killing? If it’s capital punishment, why should they be spared? But if one is a terrorist and he has not been caught, there’s no evidence that he has murdered anybody. If you go into a village, abduct people, and start demanding a state of your own or something like that is terrorism. Have you killed them? So, if you haven’t killed anybody, you can be reintegrated. That’s the normal thing. Once you’ve served your jail time, the normal thing is to be reintegrated. Otherwise, if you are not reintegrated, you go back to your old ways.

It’s a sociological issue. I think one of the ways by which you reform criminals is to reintegrate them. Those that you don’t intend to kill. Now, for those who kill, that’s a different issue for me. There’s no basis to spare them; kill them. Well, if that is what the law says. Just as you kill somebody, an armed robber who shoots someone.

It’s a standard thing. Anybody who goes to jail and comes back normally should be reintegrated. It’s a way to ensure that he doesn’t go back. If you just leave him to his own elements, he will go back.

You spoke earlier on the operations of Amotekun. Do you think the vision for Amotekun is still alive?
Well, my first reaction is that what is happening to Amotekun now is proof that tackling security is not just about talking or clamouring for a position. It’s about real action. It also shows that governors are not passionate. They don’t regard tackling insecurity as a priority.

Yes. Well, they are the ones who created Amotekun. It’s a sad commentary on the memory of Rotimi Akeredolu. I don’t know what he would have made of Amotekun if he was alive. I think death has more or less spared him from any criticism.

Now, but for those left behind, the governors we have, they are a big disappointment. I speak for myself. I’m not speaking for Afenifere. When I speak for Afenifere, I will say so. And I think for the State Police, I spoke for Afenifere. But on this one, I speak for myself. They are a big disappointment. I don’t blame them. I blame Nigerians who, rather than calling the governors to order and taking them to account, would concentrate on the centre. Everything is federal government. Everything the states need, they have.

They have more resources in terms of money. And they have security votes; what do they use the money for? Now, I think Oyo State has just bought a surveillance aircraft. They could have done that three years ago. Why is it coming now? They should have done it three, four years ago. Doing surveillance all over the state. And it’s not just Oyo State. All the states. They are doing nothing about security. They’ve had the opportunity to do so to avert all these. Federal government has financially enabled the states to do what they should do in terms of security. Now, it’s a joint effort.

So, I’m not saying that the federal government has no responsibility. Amotekun has failed. Even the State Police will fail if the states do not do what they need to do. There was a time that somebody, one governor, was arguing that if they want to create state police, they have to fund it. We’ve been planning for state police. Guess what? If I were a governor, the day state police is approved, I will not wait for federal funds.

I will start. You know, maybe incrementally. And when federal government funds come, then I will spread.
I will not wait. Security of lives and property is the first primary responsibility of any government. Without it, nothing else works. So, you can’t wait for the Federal Government.

The Federal Government has a big role to play, but the states also have a great role to play. They must work together. Talking about Amotekun, we have not held them to account. We, the citizens. Nobody, until this Oriire thing nobody has been talking about state governments not performing their functions in terms of security.

And it’s their fault. We clamoured for Amotekun. When we got it, what did we do with it? When they asked to establish Amotekun, were we expecting the federal government to fund it? So, why are we clamouring for it when we know we won’t do it? It shows hypocrisy.

It shows irresponsibility on the part of our state governors. And I say so without any fear of any contradiction or whatever.

On the recent abductions and the release of students and teachers in Oriire, most people are calling on the federal government to replicate the same thing in other areas…

What was the method by which he did this one? Intelligence. There was no serious exchange of gunfire or anything like that. It was intelligence. And intelligence always failed in the North because it was always leaked. America said so. When they were going to gas some bandits and terrorists, by the time they got to the place, the terrorists had gas masks on their faces. So somebody had told them. That did not happen at Oriire.