Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), Oyo State Chapter, has described the rising spate of insecurity across Oyo State as an indictment on the ‘half- hearted approach to tackling insecurity’ by both the immediate past Late Ajimobi/APC and the present Makinde/PDP-led governments.
SPN urges working masses and youth to support demands for social programmes to address mass poverty and unemployment and democratically controlled non-sectarian multi-ethnic defence committees in communities.
The Party, in a statement signed by its secretary in the state, Ayodeji Adigun, condemns in totality the rising rate of killing, violence and thuggery that are ravaging the entire length and breadth of the state in the present time. In the last one month, over 30 lives have been reportedly lost and a number of valuable property destroyed as a result of violent attacks and thuggery.
“Notable among these is the violent attack in Igangan on the 6th June, 2021 by unknown gunmen, suspected to be criminal elements of Fulani extraction, who invaded the town in the dead of the night during which 20 persons were reportedly killed and valuable property destroyed. In the last few days, crime rate has gone from bad to worse in Ibadan. Barely 48 hours after a radio presenter, Badejo Titus was killed by unknown gunmen around Oluyole Estate in Ibadan, there was a report of another unidentified person killed along UI Road on Monday, 21st June, 2021.”
“This is less than a week after a young man, Rahman Ibrahim and two other victims were killed at Iwo Road during a violent clash between some phone sellers and officers of the Park Management System, PMS, created by Governor Seyi Makinde and led by one Auxillary, a known park thug and criminal suspect. In addition to this is the over 11 persons who were also reportedly killed during a gang clash at Oopo, inalende, Abebi and their environs between OPC members and alleged cult groups. Another violent clash that claimed three lives was also reported around Iyana church, ile tuntun in Ibadan South East Local Government Area, on Sunday, 19th June, 2021, few days after a violent clash between the OPC group and cult group was reported at Agugu area in Ibadan.”
“As far as we are concerned in the SPN, all these cases of violence, killings and other forms of security challenges ravaging the state at this present time are in one way or another an indictment on the half-hearted approach to tackling insecurity which has been employed by both the immediate past government led by the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi and the present government by Engr. Seyi Makinde. During the late Ajimobi-led government, even though the rate of criminality in the state is not as bad as we have it today, all of the measures and methods employed in tackling insecurity are limited to use of repressive force of the state against criminality. A particular group of known thugs were suppressed by using state machinery to enhance the domination of another group of thugs that professed loyalty to the regime.”
“Additional security outfit like Operation Burst was created with huge amounts of public funds being expended on the procurement of vehicle for both the newly created and old security outfits while the working conditions and the welfare of the poor and low ranked officers and their families were totally neglected. Public funds were also expended on the procurement and installation of CCTV camera at the bus stop under a fraudulent policy of PPP through which political acolytes of the regime were enriched. The recent revelation by Chief Wale Oladejo, a spokesperson of all the Mogajis in Ibadanland equally shows that one of the strategies employed by the Late Ajimobi-led regime to tackle insecurity was through monthly allocation of public funds to traditional rulers which include Mogagis, Baales and Obas for the purpose of bribing known thugs and criminal elements capable of fomenting troubles in their respective localities.”
“Unfortunately none of these approaches can be said to be directly geared towards reducing the mass poverty and youth unemployment which are the two main socio-economic root causes of the various forms of violence and criminality that is threatening the security of lives and property across the state at this present time. Therefore, it is the half-hearted nature of the approach that ignored the questions of poverty and unemployment used by the Ajimobi-led government in tackling insecurity that explains why all of the so-called achievements attributed to the regime in the area of security could not be sustained beyond the regime itself. It is a similar half-hearted approach that has been adopted by the present Engr Seyi Makinde-led government and that has formed the basis for the so called resurgence of killings and violence which has made the condition of insecurity under the two-year old PDP regime to have gone from bad to worse in the recent time.”
Notwithstanding, the news report, that Engr Seyi Makinde-led government inaugurated a governing Board for Amotekun on Tuesday June 22, 2021, all of the measures taken by the Engr Seyi Makinde led government in tackling insecurity in the state in his two-year old regime are by and large not gone beyond the same procurement of vehicles for the police; convocation of security summits; establishment of Amotekun which is similar to the creation of operations Burst by the late Ajimobi-led government; replacement of NURTW with PMS which is also a promotion of a group of armed thugs loyal to his regime. Other measures include the decision of the regime to allegedly increased the state monthly security votes from #250 million to #1 billion.”
“Given this background, while we acknowledge the law and order approach as an immediate response to insecurity, it’s obvious that to reverse the tide of insecurity in the state and the country at large will require a conscious effort to create gainful employment opportunities for mass of unemployed youths and ensure a drastic and significant reduction in the rate of poverty in the society. This is very possible and achievable only by a government willing and capable of making a radical departure from the various anti-people capitalist policies like PPP, contract system, privatisation and deregulation and ensures that the needs of the people, not the greed of a few always form the basis of policies and projects. Again, such a government must also be ready to embrace a pro-people policy like public work programme where the state Ministry of Works will be equipped with both manpower and machinery to carry out all required construction works like roads, schools, hospitals, houses needed by the mass of the people in the state, under the democratic control and supervision of representatives of workers and community people residing where the project is to take place.”
“Asides the fact that the construction works undertaken through this kind of public work programme is going to be cheaper with high quality being ensured. This measure alongside other programmes like massive investment in a publicly owned modernised animal husbandry and mechanised farming will definitely create good employment opportunities with right to pension and unions of choice for thousands of teeming unemployed youths. Also importantly such a government must support or implement a program of public ownership of the commanding heights of economy under a democratic and management of the working people in order to generate adequate resources for the provision of basic needs for the vast majority.”
“We strongly believe that only a government formed by workers and the poor and run on the basis of socialist programme is capable of implementing these programme. However, given the failure of both the state government and federal government to protect live and property in the state, we believe that a united mass actions of the working masses is needed to confront both urban criminality and rural banditry. Therefore, we of the SPN call on the masses to support the call for the formation of non-sectarian, multi-ethnic and multi-religious defence committees in communities which could be armed if necessary but whose operation must be under the democratic control of the community people” the statement reads.
SPN called on all workers, youths, students and the masses who are not happy with the condition of insecurity and the entire worrisome economic situation in the state and are interested in a radical change, to join the party and help to build it towards an enthronement of a socialist government.
According to the party’s scribe, this is to ensure that the entire resources of the society is used in the reconstruction of the society to satisfy the overall interest of all and not the profit interest of the few members of the billionaire class as seen under successive capitalist governments across the country.
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