Insecurity: Olowu of Kuta Charges S’West Govs to Strengthen Amotekun Corps

By Alamu Kolapo

The Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama, has charged South-West governors to strengthen their security architecture through the Amotekun Corps in response to rising insecurity across the region.

The monarch gave the charge while receiving the new leadership of the Osun Online Publishers Association (OOPA) at his palace in Kuta.

Speaking during the visit, Oba Makama said the current wave of insecurity in the South-West had long been anticipated, adding that both the Federal Government and governors in the region must intensify efforts to tackle the situation.

According to him, security budgets had already been approved, but what was needed was proper coordination and deployment of modern security platforms.

“The wave of insecurity in the Southwest is what had been foreseen ahead of time. I believe the Federal Government and governors in the Southwest are up to the task. Security budgets have been approved, but what we need now is proper coordination and application of platforms, both hardware and software.

“Rather than endangering our security personnel unnecessarily, drone technology and surveillance equipment will solve a lot of problems.

“In the Southwest, we already have a nomenclature of state policing through Amotekun. Every state government should strengthen its Amotekun corps, while the Federal Government should also up its game by deploying more security platforms.

“No monarch has real power again; what we have today are influential monarchs. The powers of traditional rulers were eroded long ago.

“There is dialogue. The Federal Government and state governments are talking to us. There are interface meetings through the National Council of Traditional Rulers and state councils. We are the closest to the people.

“The speed with which the National Assembly passes executive bills should also be used to enact laws that will include traditional rulers in the constitution,” he said.

Recalling the traditional system of community monitoring, the monarch said local intelligence gathering used to begin from village and compound heads whenever strangers entered communities.

“When a visitor entered a community, the compound head or village head would immediately ask questions about the visitor. Intelligence gathering started from there. But today, we do not have constitutional roles,” he added.