ONDO State Government penultimate weeks ago played host to a day security summit.
OBJECTIVE of the summit as outlined by the government was to appraise the current security architecture in the state with a view to design appropriate funding arrangement and produce suitable policy document.
OTHER highlights included funding security in Ondo State, criminal justice system and the current security realities, cybercrimes as well as information management system, marine crimes, youth restiveness, herdsmen and farmers’ clashes, arms proliferation and inter communal clashes kidnapping among others.
THE Summit, first of its kind by any Government in the state was apparently in response to recent “spikes” in new or emergent patterns of criminality in the State.
WE recall before the summit the state was almost overwhelmed with criminal activities of some unscrupulous elements in the state. For example, the Akure- Owo , Owo- Ikare, Akure -Ikere, Akure -Ondo, Benin-Ore Lagos roads were almost taken over by the criminal activities of these hoodlums.
HARDLY could a week pass without these men of shady characters robbing or kinapping innocent motorists on the axis.
OBVIOUSLY no serious minded government, not even the one changing the face of the state and making it investments haven would fold its hands and allow criminals overrun it.
THIS must have prompted government to organise the summit, This is because Security and development are Siamese twins. They are fundamental to the socio-contractual responsibilities of any government to its citizens. As a matter of fact security directly or indirectly affects everybody. For an optimum development-output a solid security apparatus are needed to stimulate development.
THE reality on ground is that the present administration of Ondo state is embarking on ambitious programme of massive infrastructural development to create an enabling environment that will transform the state to an industrial hub. .
AT the event Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu assured of his administration’s readiness to adopt recommendations raised from the Security Summit to save lives and property as well as scale up ease of doing business in the state. He emphasized that every patriotic citizen should be concerned in addressing all security challenges confronting the nation, that his government is committed to maximum protection of lives and property in the state. He submitted that there can be no development without peace.
WE commend government for hosting the summit taken into consideration the fact that no development can take place in a place where the security of lives and property cannot be guaranteed.
WE appeal to the government to take seriously the recommendations emanating from the summit with a view to tackling security challenges frontally.
frontally.
WE recommend the establishment of an alternative to the conventional police as a panacea for tackling the growing security challenges in the country nay Ondo state.
THE HOPE believes that the government can establish the native Police, otherwise referred to as ‘Friday Police’ in the old Western Region of Nigeria. To do this, the government can engage the services of current Traffic Corps in the state.
TO us, they could serve as the fulcrum of the state police. Our Position is that they are no doubt indigenes of the state drawn from the nooks and crannies of the communities. They are obviously not new to what transpires in their various domains. Thus, If employed they could serve as intelligence hub for the police to act for the smooth running of their operations. We believe that the Corps have gone through various security trainings and better placed for the assignment.
WE equally enjoin the government to critically look into the suggestion of holding court sessions in the evenings and weekends as proposed by one of the facilitators as a good measure towards giving speedy hearings to voluminous court cases on those awaiting trials and eventually decongest the prisons in the state.
ALSO, we wish a think-tank committee be inaugurated up to look into issues raised at the Summit and bring up implementable ideas which the government should give priority attention and forge ahead with.
WE appreciate the government’s concern that there should be leverage between development and security because of the new status of the state as an industrial hub; this undoubtedly should attract all manners of people, ideas, interests etc. We therefore suggest that the governor should quickly address these issues in order to maintain adequate peace sustenance in the state.