The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has lamented the refusal of the Federal Government to leverage the large and widespread structure of his group to tackle insecurity in the country.
Adams, who doubles as the National Coordinator, Oodua Peoples Congress, stated this in Osogbo, Osun State capital, on Thursday at the annual leadership retreat of the group, attended by members of the group from Osun and beyond.
The OPC national coordinator emphasised the need for the Federal Government to allow state and local governments to organise their own security architecture and protect lives and properties.
He advised governments at all levels to take advantage of the already established structure of OPC which has a vast presence in many communities in the country, to provide security for the populace.
“Governments at various levels have refused to take advantage of our structure to their advantage. If the government is determined to tackle insecurity and reduce it drastically, those in authority know what to do.
“Even though we have three tiers of government; the federal, state, and local governments. What that means is that each tier must have its own security. The Federal Government should have its own security, the state must have its own security and the local government must also have its own security architecture.
“Especially now that the Federal Government has fought for the local governments to have their autonomy, they have more than enough resources to have their own local government security set up,” Adams said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the state OPC coordinator, Yemi Aboderin, explained that the retreat was targeted at educating members of the group on their role in enhancing the security of the state and the Yoruba land at large.
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