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OPINION: When Bandits Took Over Ondo State

Published

8 months ago

March 16, 2025

By Festus Adedayo

Ondo State was in the news for the bad reason last week. A gale of killings, kidnapping and demand for ransom swept through the Akure North and South local governments of the state. Armed assailants were said to have stormed Aba Alajido, Aba Sunday, Aba Pastor, and Ademekun communites of the Akure North Local Government Area. By the time the flakes had settled, deaths, caked blood and destruction dotted the landscape, with weeping, wailing and gnashing of the teeth as the victims and their families’ companions. From 20 villagers allegedly killed, fourteen bodies were said to have been recovered.

This bad news had hardly subsided when on Tuesday, same last week, nine surveyors were also said to have been kidnapped. Reports said they had been working at a site in a village in Ilu-Abo, Akure North Local Government Area of the state. After the abduction of the surveyors, their abductors were said to have made a demand of the sum of N100m to secure their release. This led to protests by individuals, market women and organizations which called on the governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to face the business of protecting the people which is central to the mandate given him by the people. Earlier, on January 31, along the Benin-Owo-Akure road at the Ifon area of Ose Local Government Area of the state, seven travelers from Akwa Ibom State were abducted by bandits in a commercial bus.

In Nigeria of today, the sad reality is that. no state is totally immune from violence, banditry and insecurity. In virtually all components of Nigeria, countrymen sleep with one eye closed, making the security situation a national affliction that cannot be tackled with rhetoric. With these in mind, no one can totally harangue Ondo State and its authorities for the deluge of violence that aims at the state’s jugular. However, there is a lot to be bothered about when government’s response or lack thereof is tame and perceived to be a reflection of incompetence.

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Yes, I am aware that governments in the Third World, try to de-numericize figures of casualties. So, if 20 people, for instance, suffer casualty in a disaster, governments keep the figure down to a tolerable numeral. The mind behind this, especially in Nigeria, is that actual figures could attract national bile towards the government. But, I have hardly seen where governments look at the face of their people and tell brazen lies.

The first indication of tame leadership response to the Ondo State insecurity came from government’s response. Just like Goodluck Jonathan did when the news of the kidnap of the Chibok girls got to him, responding with unbelief that it ever happened, the Ondo State government lived in denial of the calamity for almost 48 hours. Feelers from within it said government believed that the killing took place outside of Ondo State and its political enemies were merely weaponizing the killings by claiming it happened in the state. Their conviction was that this was done for the purpose of embarrassing the state government. Jonathan, I am sure, is yet to recover from the effect of this. When a Chief Security Officer of a state shows this level of absence, it is obvious the state is done for.

Thus, while addressing women protesters on behalf of the governor, the Special Adviser on Union Matters and Special Duties, Mr Bola Taiwo, gave the indication that mental rigour was lacking in the Alagbaka Government House. Taiwo’s response to the kidnapping of the surveyors was to blame them for getting themselves kidnapped. Their specific sin, the adviser said, was that they went to the site without security protection.

“We shall speak with your leaders if they have reported the incident to the police. If they have not, they should go there and report, that’s when the government would act. Nowadays, surveyors going to the site should go with police escorts. If they do, no gunmen would abduct them. No one can kidnap anyone without internal collaborators,” Taiwo said. He also told the women to return to Ilu-Abo and pursue their demand for the release of the surveyors. “You shall now go back to Ilu-Abo and cry out that those who abducted the surveyors should release them. No Hausa or Fulani man can come to Ilu-Abo and kidnap without the connivance of one of the natives. It is your people that kidnapped the nine surveyors. We will meet with your leaders and discuss with them,” he said magisterially. The same adviser was on a radio station to continue these doggerel verses which incensed the people of the state.

In saner clime, after that statement, Taiwo should be history in government. When a government hires an adviser who speaks this vacuously and leashlessly, then you need not look further as to why there is paucity of rigour and vision in the activities of the government. The appointive authority should be blamed.

However, the good news is that Governor Aiyedatiwa has sworn to do the needful. At a press conference thereafter, he talked about procuring drones to fight the bandits who seem to have convoked on the state. God bless the soul of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. He led the establishment of the Amotekun security network in the southwest and ensured that his state reflected the frown of Yorubaland against invaders of whatever extraction. Now that Aiyedatiwa has the knife, can he face the smoke, pull out his chestnut from the fire and govern Ondo State? It will be a calamity if Ondo State perceives that it has an accidental governor. While you need small luck to become a governor, plenty brain is needed to administer it.

News

Collapse Of Governance Fueling Insecurity, Says Varsity Don

Published

4 minutes ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

A senior lecturer in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, College of Management and Social Sciences, Osun State University, Anthony Kola-Olusanya, has said insecurity challenges persist in Nigeria because political leaders are failing to deliver quality governance.

Kola-Olusanya made this known while speaking as a guest lecturer at a public lecture, one of the activities marking the ongoing 2025 Press Week Ceremony of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, in Osogbo.

Speaking on the theme: “Governance and Security in Nigeria: Progress, Challenges and Future Directions”, the former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the state-owned university, described governance and security as two sides of a coin, explaining that when governance breaks down, insecurity grows, and the situation hinders the country from reaching its full potential.

He said, “Governance has faltered in inspiring collective progress, and when people lose faith in their leaders, insecurity shifts from an external issue to an internal crisis. It manifests as the language of frustration.”

The don expressed worry that many governors only think of obtaining monthly allocations and suffer from limited ability to pursue proactive initiatives in tackling insecurity.

Kola-Olusanya, a Professor of Environmental Sustainability at the Osun State University and the Acting Dean, Faculty of Education of the University, concluded, “The powers of guns will not decide the future of this nation, but by the courage of ideas, not by the arrogance of leaders, but by solidarity. Let us therefore act boldly, wisely and together.”

In his remarks, Kolapo Alimi, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment in the state, emphasised the need for governments to prioritise security and governance.

The commissioner said security has been politicised, identifying it as one of the undoings of the fight against the menace.

“We have politicised all aspects of our lives, including security, and that is why we are having an incessant security breach. And I know that one day will be one day, that we will come back to our senses to know that insecurity does not know anybody,” he said.

News

Don’t Turn Yourself To Praise Singers, Emir Sanusi Tells Ministers, Presidential Aides

Published

6 minutes ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muhammadu Sanusi II, has warned ministers and presidential aides against turning into praise singers rather than offering President Bola Tinubu honest advice that could help salvage the nation’s ailing economy.

Sanusi gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference and Book Launch, where he joined other notable Nigerians to examine Nigeria’s economic policies and governance challenges.

Speaking on the need for integrity and courage in public service, the Emir lamented that sycophancy has worsened Nigeria’s leadership crisis, as those who speak the truth are often branded enemies of the state.

He decried the growing culture of excessive praise for political leaders during official functions, warning that it stifles honest feedback and undermines good governance.

He said: “Our leaders listen, but only to those who tell them what they want to hear. Nigeria has too many sycophants in government. Those who speak the truth are seen as enemies of the state.

“You sit in a meeting, and the President is there. The first thing people say is, ‘Mr. President, I want to thank you for your great leadership. God has blessed Nigeria by making you our leader. By the time they finish laying that foundation, it is their advice that the President accepts.

“But when you tell the truth and point out what is wrong, they say you are the enemy. That is why people like Atedo Peterside and I are always seen as enemies of the state, because people don’t like hearing the truth.”

Sanusi urged ministers and presidential aides to restore integrity to public service by speaking truth to power, stressing that blind loyalty and flattery have been major obstacles to Nigeria’s progress.

“Those who work with the President must understand that it is not in their benefit to turn themselves into praise singers. You disgrace yourself and the office you hold when you do that.”

Turning to the economy, Sanusi commended the Tinubu administration for removing fuel subsidy and unifying exchange rates, describing both as “painful but necessary steps.”

He, however, cautioned that the reforms would fail unless matched with fiscal discipline and transparent spending.

“If you stop paying subsidies but continue borrowing more, it means you’ve filled one hole only to dig another. The real challenge now is the quality of government spending and the management of the revenues saved,” he said.

The former CBN governor, who served between 2009 and 2014, said Nigeria’s current economic woes were the consequence of years of policy inconsistency and populist politics, recalling that the same politicians who opposed subsidy removal in 2012 are now implementing it.

“In 2012, we warned that the subsidy was unsustainable, but politics took over. “Now the same people who led protests against it have inherited the problem and had no choice but to do the right thing.”

He praised the professionalism of the current economic team, including Finance Minister Wale Edun and CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, for the steps taken to stabilise inflation and reduce exchange rate volatility, but insisted that government waste must be urgently curtailed.

“Why do we need 48 ministers? Why do we need long convoys of vehicles and endless travel expenses? We cannot preach sacrifice to the people while living in luxury at the top,” he said.

In his remarks, Peterside, founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, echoed Sanusi’s call for fiscal responsibility, saying government must demonstrate that savings from subsidy removal are being used to uplift ordinary Nigerians.

“It’s not true that pain automatically brings gain. Gain only follows pain if the government spends wisely, eliminates waste and supports the poor,” he said.

News

Four Dead, Three Injured As Bus Collides With Truck In Ogun

Published

47 minutes ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

A teenager and three others died in a crash that happened when a bus hit a breakdown truck at Alagbon along Owode-Atan Road in Ogun State.

Three other persons also sustained varying degrees of injuries from the accident.

The crash involved a Sinotruck with no registration number and a white Suzuki minibus with registration Number KTU 874 YJ.

Spokesperson of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed this to newsmen in a statement on Tuesday.

Akinbiyi said that 11 people (two males and nine females) were involved in the accident, while three people (one male and two females) sustained injuries. He said four people (one male, two female adults and one teenager) died.

He blamed the crash on both drivers, saying the bus driver wouldn’t have rammed into the cement-loaded breakdown truck if the truck driver had posted a caution sign on the road.

The TRACE Image Maker said that the injured victims had been taken to General Hospital, Idi-Iroki, by operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) before the arrival of its officers.

He said that the accident vehicles had been towed away and the traffic initially affected had been restored.

In other news, The Guardian reported that a pregnant woman was killed in a fatal auto crash along the Sagamu Expressway corridor in Ogun State. The accident, which left several others injured, involved a payloader, a Toyota Camry with registration number AAB-248 MK, and a commercial tricycle marked JGB-643 VD.

Spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident to newsmen. He said the crash occurred when the driver of the Toyota Camry lost control of the vehicle, veered off his lane, and rammed into a moving tricycle, killing the pregnant woman instantly.

According to Akinbiyi, the payloader operator, the Camry driver, and other male passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries. He added that the injured victims were taken to nearby hospitals in Sagamu by passers-by, while the body of the deceased was deposited at an undisclosed morgue.