Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had warned the federal government that the Nigerian people of will soon consider the failures of Nigerian security forces to tackle security challenges combating the south western region and Nigeria at large as a go-ahead for individuals to carry weapons for self-defence and protection.
Governor Akeredolu delivered the keynote address during a meeting with the Attorney-Generals of the thirty six states of Nigeria held in Lagos.
Akeredolu maintained that the police should “close shop” if they could not procure the equipment required to secure lives and properties of Nigerians.
“We will carry arms very soon, Oga Malami, there is no other way, the police have failed.”
“The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the right of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of state police.”
“The Federal Government getting 52 per cent of the country’s revenue allocation is the main cause of the problem. There are some funds at the federal level that they don’t know what to do with. And the states and local governments are being starved. This is a direct consequence of long military rule,”said the Gov. Akeredolu.
The Attorney-General of Federation, Abubakar Malami’s response took a different direction by saying the state governments have no valid ground to stand in request for restructure that will empower the state to do as explained by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.
His words: “A further question is whether a state governor that undermines the democratic process, that refuses to inaugurate members of the state house of assembly that were elected equally stands a moral ground to clamour for restructuring against the backdrop of the fact that he does not believe in allowing the system to effectively and efficiently operate?”
There is a possibility of validity of the suspicions of the southern elites about the northern elites’ cold approach to the subject of restructure.
