Amotekun: South West Not Planning To Secede- Akeredolu
Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has faulted notions held in some quarters that the recently launched security outfit, Amotekun, was aimed at preparing the ground for the Southwest geopolitical zone to secede from the country.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Friday, he maintained that Amotekun was launched with the sole agenda of complementing the efforts of security agencies to protect the lives and property of the citizenry in the Southwest geopolitical zone.
The governor hinted of plans to decentralise the outfit, saying: “We all now agree that all the necessary legal framework, when our attorney generals are through with it, we will sit down again and look at it as states and that we made it clear that the issue of regionalism is that we want to share information, share intelligence, share whatever we gather and that all the vehicles from Ondo State will be returned to Ondo State, vehicles from Ekiti returned to Ekiti, every state would have its own command.”
Akeredolu, who is at the forefront of the launch of Amotekun, however, insists that restructuring remains the panacea for the growth and development of the country.
He spoke in reaction to claims by notable Nigerians from the northern geopolitical zone that the idea behind Amotekun was part of the grand design by the Southwest zone to break away from the country.
Akeredolu, however, said he remains committed to ensuring an indivisible Nigeria, adding that it was unfortunate that well-informed individuals, such as Alhaji Balarabe Musa, who was the former governor of Old Kaduna State in the Second Republic misunderstood the idea behind the launch of Amotekun.
He said: “Balarabe Musa spoke out of ignorance. That is the way I see it because he is a respected leader. We all have respect for him and from his days in NEPU and PRP, till when he was impeached as governor, he was a progressive person, and he is still a progressive person. I am sure maybe he was misquoted. For me, such views from him were unnecessary.
“It is not possible. In my speech at the launch of Amotekun, I was very clear that this is not a regional army or regional paramilitary and that it is collaborative and that all we want to do is to ensure that our forests and other places, we have men who can go in to arrest these bandits and help the Police in their work.
“I remember I said something there that this nation has come to stay, if only for one reason, for my sake it must stay. So, my wife that is Ibo, if they want to break this country, where would my children go? My wife is Igbo, so where would my own children go? I believe in this country totally.
“However, we are committed to restructuring this country. We are not going to say because of Amotekun, we should not restructure; this country must be restructured. We have said so openly, it is there in the All Progressives Congress (APC) constitution and part of our manifesto. Restructuring was stated clearly that we would do it.”
He continued: “Why we have not done it, nobody knows, but we have to. But there have been some efforts to restructure. We can give it to the President, at least, let him take the credit, there have been some efforts at restructuring in one way or the other. So, restructuring is not something we can compromise.
“That is the only way for this country. We can’t continue this way. The country is hydra-headed and everybody must feel a sense of belonging and the only way is for us to carry out this restructuring.”