There is no other time than now for men of goodwill and conscience to rally around our dear Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, who has worked tirelessly to bring much needed socio-economic development and more importantly, peace to our land.
At a time when there are people who are opposed to good governance and will stop at nothing to destabilize our state, we must stand by Seyi Makinde as we must not be over taken by the speed of quick anger and unsound reasoning.
It is true that anything done when in anger will end up being done wrongly.
How ready are we for a state of anarchy, chaos and lawlessness? Unless we are very prepared which we are not and nobody ever prays for, we cannot afford to lose our temper unless we are well adjusted for the result of our actions. Are we prepared?
I do not speak for Governor Seyi Makinde but I speak for men of reasoning on behalf of Governor Makinde, a man who loves his people, a man who is ready to go to war, a man who has dared the might of the Federal government even when others cowered.
It was Seyi Makinde, who, despite stiff opposition, was the major architect of Amotekun, the Yoruba Security network. Have we forgotten so soon how we all welcomed the idea of being our own security bearers and how we hailed Seyi Makinde as the Messiah? What has changed? After the launch of Amotekun, was it not to his credit that the security network kicked – off with thorough training and equipment of personnel?
There are elements within us who resisted Amotekun for various reasons, one being that they are used to the old way of doing things, the old way of warring. In modern times however, we must recognise the fact that what is more important in warfare is intelligence gathering and strategy. If you go to the front without these two, defeat and destruction wait you. Those who hailed you today as the general who will usher in their Utopia will be the very ones who will resent you for bringing carnage upon them. We all must be careful when pushed to anger. We must react with careful reasoning and common sense.
Can we afford to deep our land into bloodshed and destruction? If the response is negative then we must not encourage lawlessness.
Where is there is constituted authority, any parallel pronouncement is a direct challenge of that authority and an invitation to lawlessness.
Our governor, Engr Seyi Makinde has been on his toes, working night and day, holding high level security meetings, getting briefs and strategizing on how to clear our lands of bandits of all kinds, creed and tribe. As the Chief security officer of the state, he sees and hears before any one else does. A good commander will not come to the public to announce what his plans are when in pursuit of the enemy. Do you think he is not aware, do you think he does not feel the pains? If he was as weak as some the mischievous opposition are making it seem, would he have been the host of all South West governors, initiating, taking command and responsibilities for the formation of Amotekun even when such men as the Asiwaju of Lagos, Bola Ahmed Tinubu scurried off to hide like a hunted rabbit? What has changed?
The same Engr Seyi Makinde who some are accusing of working against the wrongly timed and wrongly executed uprising of Sunday Igboho,
has been a member of Afenifere and is a known Yoruba irredentist.
Yes, Fulani herders have raped, maimed and killed on our lands. Yes, we are very angry yet we have lived with the Fulanis for over 100 years in peace. To get to the heart of the problem is not to expel every Fulani, even the good ones. We must not stoke the embers of a conglomerate of which we cannot see the end. An action that will surely boomerang and come back to us a million times worse. We must exercise caution in all we do.
If Governor Seyi Makinde was not determined to fish out every criminal element from our state, including the murdering marauders, armed robbers, ritualists, cultists and criminals of all shade, he will not spend huge resources on training a community security outfit and he will not invest in the Nigerian Police Force; yet we call him a coward?
Can there be two voices of authority in one state? Can Sunday Igboho take the laws into his hands and the governor sits down to applaud him? Please let’s all apply some wisdom and common sense.
If a little bit of common sense had been implored in the case of Mohammed Yusuf, the North East will not be under the bondage or Boko Haram today.
No one can ever predict the reach and severity of a raging bush fire.
If his intentions were genuine, Sunday Igboho would have reached out to the state governor, he could have strategized with the Aare Ona kakanfo of Yoruba Land, Otunba Gani Adams, Yoruba Elders Forum and Afenifere. These authorities would surely have found a more ‘diplomatic’ way of dealing with the issue at Ibarapa.
Sunday Igboho may have the right to protect his people but Sunday Igboho has no right to take the laws into his hands. The Yorubas are known for discretion and hitting when it is least expected. We are warriors yet we are governed by law.
Our existence till date is based on the fact that we consult, we plan, we strategisze before going to war.
That the Oyos stopped the Fulani jihadists in the old days was not only because of the traditional powers of our forebears but mainly because they went to war as ONE United army.
Going back in history, we have many lessons to learn. Adolph Hitler was seen as the liberator of Germany until he plunged the world into World War II, a war that left Germany economically crippled and it’s pride defeated.
Have we forgotten so soon how Folarin disturbed the peace of Oyo State during Governor Alao Akala. How he allegedly murdered Lateef Salako, threatening the security of Oyo State with his subordinates like Igboho and others?
Have we forgotten how Chairman, Oyo State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) , Alhaji Lateef Salako a.k.a. Eleweomo was shot dead during the government of Alao-Akala?
Do we want to go back to those days?
Is Sunday Igboho acting on his own order or is he playing the script of the opposition APC?
These are some of the salient questions we must ask ourselves. Igboho is a known associate of Teslim Folarin and has even eulogised him in videos.
The big question that begs an answer by one and all is, that the Buhari and APC favour the Fulanis…Why is it that Folarin and APC are the ones attacking the Fulanis now?
Otunba Gani Adams in his reaction to Igboho’s action in Ibarapa cautioned him about being used and dumped by politicians.
Perhaps Otunba Adams, a man adept in warfare knows something that we are not paying attention to. Perhaps he knows that there are sinister political forces behind the actions or Sunday Igboho.
Let us not romanticise war. War is ugly, war is evil, to go to war without planning is to bring untold hardship on your own people.
We must live the security of the state in the hands of the governor, we must support him, all hands must be on deck to rid our land of all kinds of evil.
When we are together, we succeed, if we allow them to divide us, they win.
I STAND WITH SEYI MAKINDE.
Eniti oun wa atisun pepeye , gbese Adi ni yo pa. Loro awon ara bi Lori Seyi Makinde.
- By Dare Adeleke