Nigeria Playing Politics with Security — Osun Information Commissioner

By Adesewa Alonge

Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, has accused political actors of frustrating Nigeria’s fight against insecurity by placing partisan and tribal interests above national safety.

Alimi, who spoke at a Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) programme in Osogbo on Monday with the theme, “Governance and security in Nigeria: Progress, challenges and future directions”, said criminals have become bolder because leaders continue to play politics with a matter that should unite the country.

“We have politicised all aspects of our lives, including security, and that is why we are having incessant breaches,” he said. “Kidnappers and armed robbers don’t know APC or PDP. They don’t know Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. Anyone can be caught in their web.”

He explained that security is the primary reason citizens entrust power to the government, stressing that welfare becomes meaningless when lives are threatened daily.

The Guest speaker Professor Anthony Kola-Olusanya, who delivered a keynote address,said the link between justice and safety can no longer be ignored.

According to him, Nigeria needs political will, stronger institutions and moral clarity to overcome its security challenges.

“Adequate security is not about force, but fairness,” he declared. “The power of guns will not decide our future, but the quality of ideas and institutions.”

He charged the media to remain fearless advocates of truth, unity and compassion, adding that the next generation deserves a secure and just Nigeria.

Earlier in his remark, The Chairman of the Osun State Council of the NUJ, Comrade Wasiu Ajadosu, said insecurity remains a national challenge despite different approaches from successive administrations.

Ajadosu welcomed reports that troops recently neutralised about 50 bandits, describing it as progress that should not be dismissed as propaganda.

“It is not easy to train a single soldier,” he said. “When untrained criminals kill trained military personnel, it should worry every Nigerian.”