Phrases that Rendered Meeting of Southern Governors Ridiculous
By Nura Bako Zango
The Southern Governors Forum held a meeting yesterday, Monday 5th July, in Lagos. The meeting was held behind closed doors and at the end of it, a communique was issued to the newsmen by the governor of Ondo state and the chairman, Southern Governors Forum, Arankunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. Parts of the resolutions arrived at by the governors are:
1. If for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in the state, the Chief security officer must be duly informed.
2. The forum frown at the selective administration of criminal justice and resolved that arrest should be made within the ambit of the law and fundamental human right.
3. The next president of Nigeria should emerge from the southern region.
For Southern governors to wake up within a blink of an eye demanding for security institutions to inform them of their intention or readiness to carry out any offensive against criminals within the southern region is a clear pointer that, those set of people have a strong connection and bond with those criminals. If not why did they kick against the efforts of our gallant security agencies in maintaining law and order and restoring peaceful coexistence? Prior to the arrest of the fugitive terrorist, Nnamdi Kanu, whose utterances and social media provocations caused the southeast harm and the offensives done by the DSS against the Yoruba hoodlum, tribal bigot and secessionist, Sunday Ighoho, the governors did not come out to issue this kind of reckless and self indicting statement that further exposed their coddling with those criminals. Now that Nnamdi Kanu is in custody awaiting trial and Sunday Ighoho is declared wanted, these governors are fully aware that all those who are in one way or the other link with or aiding and abetting these criminals will be exposed and the long arm of the law will catch up with them soonest.
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When Nnamdi Kanu jumped bail and ran away from the country. He played active roles in the destructions of public institutions, burning of police stations and killing of innocent lives in the southeast by the members of the terrorists organization, IPOB, and to our dismay, non of those governors had ever come out to condemn it or disassociate themselves from him until when the FG began to deploy security agencies to deal with the criminals and flush them out of their hidings. It was at that point that some southern leaders who were shameless and mischievous had the gut to accuse the FG of genocide in the southeast. When IPOB was busy committing jungle justice on innocent people, burning police stations and destroying government owned properties in the region, that was not a genocide to them since majority of the victims were northerners. When Ahmed Gulak was gruesomely murdered in IMO state by the same members of the proscribed terrorist organization, IPOB, has any of those governors come out to condemn it? Now that their political thugs and foot soldiers are awaiting their fates in the court, they remembered the fact that they are the chief security officers of their states and they needed to be consulted or informed before any operation is carried out. What a ridiculous demand!
Those governors should be reliably informed or reminded that the security institutions are not at their back and call, and as such, there is no section of the constitution that mandated them to inform anyone if any operation is to be carried out in any part of the country as long as they receive an order from above.
It will be ludicrous if for any reason, a state governor whose state is under serious insecurity, to demand for approval from him should any security operation is to be carried out in the state. If this reckless statement was to be made by any northern governor at this moment when the north is severely hit by banditry and kidnapping, heaven would have fallen by now.
Their alleged selective administration of criminal justice even though, lacking in merit, is the sole reason some southerners are out of mischief, accusing the government of pampering bandits. If one believed that bandits are being pampered by the government, I think it will be better for him to join banditry to see if he too will be pampered. I’m not in anyway speaking for the government. Don’t get me wrong! Bandits are being hunted every now and then, some neutralized and some others arrested. But these people failed to reason beyond sentiment.
Finally, when I read the phrase “The next president of Nigeria should emerge from south” in their communiqué, I was speechless and brimmed with astonishment. I was even asking myself if that statement was a wish or a command. It is reasonable to make a wish but absolutely ridiculous and laughable to command a formidable population like that of northern Nigeria in Democracy not dictatorship. For we have what it takes to determine our fate as far as Presidential election is concerned. You cannot force people to exercise their franchise to only a politician from your region in democratic government. Let those governors remember that democracy has nothing to do with the use of force. The only things that work are wide consultation, dialogue and mutual respect for one another for any candidate from whatever region to enjoy popular support and be elected as president of the country. The northerners can’t succumb to intimidation by anybody since democracy is a game of number and we are bless with the numerical strength to determine the fate of this country politically.
Nura Bako Zango writes from Abuja
