Yesterday, I saw a video of Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin vibrating on the floor of the House, Agodi Secretariat.
He was perhaps responding to comments by a member of the state House of Assembly. After listening to him, I became angry and frustrated at the same time.
Over 40 citizens of Oyo state, many of them, small boys and girls have been in captivity for almost three weeks now. The concerned authorities have been pledging that the abducted victims would be reunited with their loved ones very soon because efforts are in top gear to get them back.
Unfortunately, Adebo Ogundoyin just put out a message which killed hope and suggested that the Government of Oyo state is completely helpless. When I listened to that speech yesterday, my mind raced to the statement credited to Governor Seyi Makinde when he visited Oriire Local Government a few days ago.
Governor Seyi Makinde said he is helpless! So, when I heard Adebo Ogundoyin asking rhetorical questions about the options open to the Oyo State Government concerning those in captivity, I was alarmed.
” If it was up to you, would you negotiate with terrorists, if terrorists asked for this and that…” Ogundoyin was asking an unidentified listener!
He started by saying that Government is doing everything that is necessary to bring back the abducted victims without being specific about the exact measures government are putting in place to get it materialised.
Yes, Adebo Ogundoyin outlined some frightening conditions which would scare anyone but the truth remains that the only thing that could not be remedied is the loss of a life. As outrageous as those conditions were, can we saying that they are enough to scare us away from discussing the freedom of these people?
I have thought so much about this unfortunate incident. All of us have failed. We failed to prevent the ugly incident from happening, now, it is here with us, what options left for us as a people, as Government?
It is either we attack these people and damn the consequences of likely collateral damages and I will never, as a person in authority, sign up for such a risky approach. The other option open to us is to negotiate, regardless of the conditions.
Except someone wants to tell me that we should sacrifice those innocent people and allow them to go the way of the Chibok Girls. If there is anyone who is thinking along this line, I can not think of any word strong enough to condemn them.
It is easy for all of us to sit down in air conditioned rooms and offices, and our loved ones secured wherever they are, while we clap for people like Adebo Ogundoyin.
I only pity the poor and ordinary people who go about defending these people blindly. If those innocent victims are the children of any of them, would they be comfortable leaving them with the kidnappers for this long?
Won’t they negotiate with them to get their loved ones released? I was on a Radio program this morning and we discussed this topic and I was asking everyone, even, in those foreign countries where they always say they don’t negotiate with terrorists, don’t they negotiate with them if it was the only option?
I am not asking the Governor Makinde to go and give the terrorists the items that Adebo Ogundoyin listed by fire by force but I’m asking him to tell us the alternatives on the table.
What other options do we have? There must be ways of making compromises here and there. That is why it is called a negotiation. I am sure that the Government of Oyo state was also not comfortable with the way the Oyo State Speaker of the House handled the matter because I saw a release from the Information Commissioner not long after that video of the Speaker surfaced.
The Government was asking for caution in the way journalists report certain developments. I think it is the Government who should be careful about the kind of information they would be releasing to the public and the manner of people who would be conveying the message.
In fact, the kind of information which came out from the Speaker came out from a wrong channel. It shows that there is even no coordination within the Government.
I think, if at all, that information should be released to the public, it should be coming from the Governor who is actually the Chief Security Officer of the state, but in all honesty, I do not think that such information is good for public consumption.
It is an information which is capable of stirring emotions. I see the attitude of the Speaker as someone who was desperate to defend the Governor and absolve him of blames and in the process, he made a very terrible mistake.
If you said you are not going to negotiate and it is obvious that you can not go and get these people gun blazing, how do you expect the families of the victims to cope with that type of information?
You are invariably telling them that you are doing nothing to get the abducted victims back. I was shocked to hear the Speaker saying we should be sensitive and calm!
There is a particular family who is said to be having four children amongst the abducted Pupils. How does anyone reasonably expect such a family to be calm, most especially, after listening to the comments by the Speaker?
At the risk of being labeled as the enemy of the Governor, I have to say this. Governor Seyi Makinde needs to quickly collaborate with the Federal Government on this matter if truly, he is committed to the rescue the abducted students and teachers.
I do not see a synergy between the state and the Federal Government and for those who don’t know, there are procedures for the intervention of the Federal Government in matters like this.
I do not expect the office of the National Security Adviser talking the way Adebo Ogundoyin spoke yesterday. I am so surprised that up till now, the Oyo State Government is yet to make an official statement about the kidnapping of the younger Sister of the immediate past Minister of Power and her two sons.
Even, the Oyo state House of Assembly didn’t deem it fit to comment on the unfortunate incident yesterday. I thought the incident of the kidnapping in Ibadan should have reawakened discussions around the abandoned Security Control Room initiative of the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the Oyo state House of Assembly.
It did not. All the Assembly was concerned with is the approval for more Bonds for Governor Seyi Makinde. On the 13th of December, 2018, a Security Control Room was commissioned by the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
The Control Room was located at the Headquarters of the Oyo state Security Trust Funds ( OYSSTF), Onireke, Ibadan.
The objective behind the setting up of the Control Room was to control security and monitor traffic within Ibadan. There was also a plan to extend to other major towns in Oyo state.
I remember that Governor Seyi Makinde visited the office of OYSSTF when he became Governor and he promised to expand the project.
What has happened to that promise? Why is Adebo Ogundoyin and the Oyo state House of Assembly not prioritizing this discussion now? I read in the news that the Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke has ordered for more surveillance drones in response to the fresh challenges of security.
How many surveillance drones do we have in Oyo state today? I think the Oyo state House of Assembly should have concerned itself with making emergency laws to deal with the emergency issues we have in our hands.
The Speaker of the Oyo state House of Assembly is not an image maker for the Government. I will round up this piece by calling on Governor Seyi Makinde to do whatever is necessary to get the abducted victims back home.
I have been thinking for a long time and I am yet to see how anyone could provide remedy for a lost life. Every other thing could be remedied. If you want to ask me, what of the president?
Though, I know that the Federal Government is not sitting idle on this matter but, you heard the Speaker. He made no mention of the Federal Government and that is why I said that Governor Seyi Makinde should collaborate with the Federal Government.
Sola Abegunde.
