The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has called on Southwest governors to engage the Oodua People Congress in tackling security challenges facing the South West region, vowing that the menace will reduce in six months.
Gani Adams made this call on Wednesday in Ile-Ife, Osun State at the grand finale of 2023 edition of Oodua Festival, while bemoaning the sudden rise in the cases of violent crimes in the region.
He assured that inseurity across the South West would be curtailed within six months if governors in the region can involve Oodua Peoples Congress in their plans to tackle the menace.
While noting that all efforts by both the Federal and the state government to address insecurity have failed, the National Coordinator of the OPC pointed out that the global community no longer takes Nigeria seriously due to the large number of lives that have been lost to insecurity.
Gani Adams said, “The bad elements are now relocating to Lagos. Remember, that was how it started in Plateau State. As the Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, we will not allow the Plateau massacre to be replicated in any part of Yorubaland.
“With the present security situation in the country, it is obvious that the government cannot do it alone. If the governors of the South West involve me in their efforts to curb insecurity in the region, I assure you that the security challenges in the region will reduce drastically within six months.”
“A good example of our involvement in curbing the security challenges in Lagos was when Baddo was the major security threat in Lagos and Ogun states, especially in Ikorodu area of the state.”
He explained that the challenge of insecurity has made it mandatory for urgent and lasting collaboration between the government and the people at the grassroots, noting that the battle to prevent the situation from worsening should be a collective effort with OPC playing a role.
On the festival, Gani Adams, made it clear that Oodua Festival is the first festival on the list of cultural promotion activities of OPC, as it is the celebration of Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba race.
