TheCable

Adeolu Akande, chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), has appealed to Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, to return to Nigeria and convene a meeting to address insecurity in the state.

In a statement, Akande, who is the director of the centre for presidential studies, Igbinedion University, Okada, expressed concern over the rising cases of kidnapping, gang wars, and other vices in the state.

He asked Makinde, who is reportedly on vacation in Houston, Texas, to cut short his vacation and return home to convene a security meeting with all stakeholders.

He also called on those in the opposition party, to drop their political agenda and come together to give advice to the current administration.

“I am disturbed by the events of the past few weeks in Oyo State. While Ibarapaland, which used to be very peaceful, has become a haven for kidnappers to operate and assassins to kill, gang wars have not been abated in Ibadan and Oyo,” he said.

“In Okeogun and Ogbomoso, the stories are not different. It is now one day, many crimes. Like I said in my Christmas message to the people of our dear state, insecurity has assumed an alarming rate. It is neither time to blame anybody or fold our arms because of our political leanings and watch things degenerate. There is no doubt that Governor Seyi Makinde needs help and we have got to support him with whatever we have.

“In the present situation we have found ourselves, nothing can thrive and the state, especially its residents are bound to be at the receiving end. When there is insecurity, job owners flee and this will lead to job loss and dwindling IGR. This will lead to more insecurity as many jobless individuals may consider kidnapping and other vices lucrative to survive.

“Yes, Governor Makinde has purchased vehicles and distributed to various security outfits across the state. It is beyond that. They need equipment, they need motivation from both government and the governed, they need training and retraining and more. It is sad that despite the fact that our governor has more than five former police commissioners as advisers, insecurity is rearing its ugly head. I am sure Governor Makinde has not made good use of our friend and former Lagos police commissioner, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, a super cop who led the flushing of the dreaded Badoo boys in Lagos.

“To those of us in the opposition, it is time we dropped our political toga and offer advise to the incumbent administration. Let’s deploy our network of connection to assist the administration as we don’t have any other place to call our state other than Oyo State. Governor Seyi Makinde should, as a matter of fact, be receptive to advise and assistance. Anything that is done to tame this insecurity will be to his credit. Nobody is competing with him as it is not yet election time.”

In a statement on Friday, Makinde had reassured the people of Oyo of the government’s dedication to fighting insecurity in the state.

“The welfare and security of the good people of Oyo State remain our top priority. We will not sit back and watch any harassment or intimidation of members of the public or our security officers,” he said.