Like the Leopard, the Yoruba are rarely aggressive. We become provoked when confronted and intruded upon. We typically unite when we face adversity because Ìpọ́njú makes us Yoruba. Like the Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn, our aggressiveness is typically limited to defending territories from intruders. We hate injustice and subjugation. We fought ourselves for these reasons for 16 unbroken years in Kírìjì war! Even our post Kírìjì war ethos is founded on advancing the homeland under social justice.
I commend our governors. The Western Nigeria Security Network… Amotekun is what we can achieve when we unite on a common purpose. We want a secure region where we can go about our business securely. We can’t afford to be picked and slaughtered at random.
The Police or any other bribe infested force MUST NOT be allowed to hijack Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn. When people in Zamfara, Middle Belt and other places where being harvested, dispossessed and slaughtered, what did the police do? Our people are angry as hell. The discussions before all of you arrived Ibadan by various community leaders and groups were furious. You were all indicted as do nothing governors. When we gathered at Ibadan, it was with all seriousness and thankfully, we accomplished our objectives.
Be prepared as you launch. Attacks can escalate and patrol officers sabotaged and killed to prove a point. Watch out for bad eggs among the patrol officers. There will be lessons to learn and Lessons Learned meetings must be done weekly for appraisal and mitigation. Insure the lives of Patrol Officers and fine tune the operations as you go along. Beware of those who are already seeing this as their avenue to get rich. There is more to do apart from patrol and I’m certain you have the roadmap. Our youths are idle and ravaged by drugs, yahoo/yahoo+ menace. We are plagued by systemic disintegration of values. Follow roadmap to address other issues.
Education and economic cooperation is next. May God give you the strength and courage to lead right. Our region is bleeding.