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Lukman Olabiyi
Mr. Kunle Adegoke is a former governorship aspirant under All Progressives Congress (APC), in the last gubernatorial election, Osun State.
He is also a former Secretary of the North East Task Force of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), responsible for legal service for the rehabilitation of victims of Boko Haram in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
In this interview, this APC chieftain and legal expert speaks on Supreme Court’s judgement on Imo and Bayelsa states’ governorship tussle, crisis rocking the ruling party, introduction of Bill creating agency for repentant terrorists by the senate and other sundry issues
Are you in support of the clamour for the sack of Service chiefs over growing insecurity in the country?
Sincerely, I am in support of the calls for the sack of the Service chiefs. If you engage a professional to do a job for you, the expectation is that he is going to deliver professionally within a reasonable length of time.
To the best of my own assessment, I don’t think the Service chiefs have done well enough. This is because Nigerians are still being attacked here and there on a daily basis. I was a member of the NBA task force on the North-East between 2016 and 2018 and at a point, we gave kudos to the Nigerian Army for battles well fought and what have you. But insecurity in the country has now escalated to a worrisome dimension.
I believe that government needs to raise the standard to ensure that lives are more secured. If you go to the North-East, you will see the level of devastation and fear in which people are living in the area. This is not something we should tolerate
Aside all this, I also believe that if it is a question of weaponry, with the amount the country has invested in securing arms and ammunition, we ought to be getting results by now. So, I want to say that the Service chiefs have definitely not given the best of their capacity and I think it’s high time they were changed to allow more competent hands to take over the work.
Some of your colleagues who are not in support of removal of the Service chiefs believe that what we need is the tactics and not the personnel. What is your take on this?
In fact, the thing is that the current Service chiefs have been deploying the same tactics that have not yielded the desired result. This is an indication that they probably are bereft of new ideas. That is the implication. You cannot be doing the same thing in the same way and expect a different result.
So, if the same Service chiefs who have been on this job for so long have not been able to deliver because of the same tactics being deployed, then, definitely they don’t have new ideas. People with fresh ideas and better experienced should be injected to the system. The Nigerian Army is staffed with so many intelligent officers and they should be allowed to handle the work.
What is your opinion on the bill creating an agency for repentant terrorists introduced by the Senate?
In all honesty, the bill for creation of an agency of government for Boko Haram members is a complete travesty. The bill is definitely sponsored by people who feel that atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram elements should go unpunished.
At the heat of war, no one releases prisoners for the enemy’s ranks to swell. What Boko Haram has done is declaring war on Nigeria and for the government to want to create an agency for purportedly repentant murderers, is beyond comprehension.
For God’s sake, these murderers were arrested but not prosecuted to ensure that justice is done to the souls of their dead victims, the maimed, the orphans and widows brought into permanent and perpetual agony by these criminal elements.
For the government to have kept them somewhere for a length of time and declared them innocent by way of purported repentance, leaves much to be desired.
Very soon, there shall be an agency for repentant bandits and herdsmen. It is a suggestion that the government has a hand in the nefarious activities of these individuals and it is a betrayal of the spirits of the gallant soldiers who lost their lives while defending Nigeria. It is a betrayal of the trust their families had in this great country to have donated their sons, daughters and in many cases, breadwinners to protect the sovereign integrity of this nation. Mind you, most of these soldiers fighting in the North East are not indigenes of these areas and have no direct stake beyond the love for Nigeria. It is a confirmation of the allegation that purportedly repentant Boko Haram members were being integrated into the Nigerian army. It is sad.
