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From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere, has called for the complete overhauling of the country’s security architecture in the interest of peace and progress of the nation.
Rising from its meeting held yesterday at the residence of its leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, Ondo State, Afenifere condemned the insecurity in the country.
The group specifically condemned the abduction of some medical students in Benue State and urged the Federal Government to secure the lives and property of the people.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the group expressed satisfaction with the recent Supreme Court judgement, which gave autonomy to local governments in the country.
The communique read: “The security architecture of the country needs to be overhauled to ensure that Nigerians are able to live and move about without fear of being kidnapped or harassed in any way. Such reworking should include accelerating actions on the decision of the government to have state police.
“There is also the urgent need to deploy modern technology more comprehensively into the efforts of combating banditry and terrorism. Doing so would check, if not totally stop the incidences of kidnapping and sundry banditry now ravaging the land.
“Afenifere also advocates for the licensing of Amotekun to carry lethal weapons. There should be greater cooperation between Amotekun and other security agencies. Command and control posts be installed across all the local government areas so that information can be shared in real-time as is done in many developed and not so developed countries.
“In the light of the current high cost of living, Afenifere urges the Federal Government, through its various organs in charge of finance and fiscal policies, to accelerate actions that will strengthen the value of our currency, enhance productivity, reduce costs of items and services geared towards reducing inflation and enhancing the welfare of the people.
“In view of the strategic position that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and Independent Oil Marketers occupy in the oil sector, Afenifere strongly calls on them to let the interest of the nation, nay the interest of the people of Nigeria, to be uppermost in their minds and actions.
“The ruling by the Supreme Court has made it possible for local governments to have more control over their finances. It is, therefore, imperative for them to go back to what used to be the case in the past. By this, we mean a situation in which local government councils not only have farms, but also make things easy for local farmers by providing them with needed resources – sometimes at subsidised fees. This will not only make foodstuffs more available; it will also enhance the council’s finances and boost the local economy. This will also partly take care of the concerns raised by the farmers who visited the leader in April this year.
“To ensure an enduring panacea to the country’s multi-faceted challenges, Afenifere reiterated its call for the restructuring of the country to take place within the shortest time possible. The organisation called on President Bola Tinubu to leverage on that part of his credential as a known democrat and federalist to quicken the country’s realisation of true federalism.”
