If you put your ears to the ground, you will hear that the silence of the talking drum is hitting harder, as the fierce masquerade and his stooges who in no ordinance dances at night have completely shape-shifted to the league of wildlings walking in the day. They collectively sang in adulation to the cloud hovering above and chant their own cognomen, while the dispirited onlookers muttered in boundless accord, as their baritone voices go wild around the village square saying, “not until they abolish that initiative of theirs, they should forget about the 2023 Presidency.”

In today’s Nigeria, they are the most pampered and famous socio-cultural organisation with unquenchable guts. The sect can gaze at the law in the eye without a blink. The law fidgets and looks sideways – probing the bed chamber of the sect victims. They no longer play “hide and seek” since their facial conformations are quite seeable; they stroll in and out of the privy of the upper-room since they now have a spare key to the safe haven. The very image I etched in my mind about these flurries of unfathomable lots was that of the village head, who is a Baron of the Brigands – whose household sells igbo (Indian hemp), his children – the warlords and street urchins of the ghetto, collecting illicit levies at the street junctions. Yet, we want those bedevilling actors out of the village.

Without feigning ignorance of the constitutional-security alignment as established in that product of political arrangement, which is supposed to be an academic model in structuring good governance, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) has designed conventional security agencies in the army, navy and air force, including the police and other numerous paramilitary organisations for the purpose of the defence of the land; yet, there are strong security lapses at every corner.

Of course, in a sane society, the primary responsibility of every government is to see to the safety and security of life and property of her citizens, and when this is partially not inline with the expectation of the populace, then there is an exigent need to reconsider and revisit the conventional security architecture as seen in the bi-partisan initiative championed by the governors of the South-western region. Despite their political affiliations and religious extractions, they quite understood and listened attentively to the cries and wails of the electorate that for adequate security to thrive there is need to understand the terrain and language of the community for better internal and community policing. Applause to them!

As condemned by the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria, it is, indeed, laughable when the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation tagged the “Amotekun” security outfit as being illegal, taking his stance from that cooked book called the constitution. What is illegal in walking in the rain with an umbrella? Or is it legal to get drenched by it? The security outfit was reasonably created to safeguard the life and property of those residing within the hemisphere of the south-western region. And its resource allocation won’t be coming from the central purse. So, what is the wailing about? An insecure society is birthed by an imbalanced and irresponsible government, thus leaving concerned and patriotic Nigerians in a disturbed state. If the tools of punitive measures are not taken into consideration and execution, then it is only a matter of time before they could infiltrate completely and make striking incursions into the core of the land.

Fellow Nigerians, there is a challenge. The media is intense as people kept spewing different political opinions across the draw-board. Some are objective and logical, others are subjective and not in line. But the questions are staring directly at us in the face: What is the pain of innocent outsiders in you trying to secure your home from burglars? Don’t the South-western region has the statutory, legislative and constitutional rights in trying to protect their own as seen in some Northern States like Kano, Nasarawa and Katsina, where Hisbah Police is orchestrated? On what motives are some northern leaders outrightly terming the illegality of the initiative? Or is there something they are trying to put behind the scene?

If we are to resist an external invasion in a clime of ours, then it can logically be termed “the Amotekun Saga” as it has moved from its overlooked phase of round-table discussions to nomenclature of realities. The Lord Commander of the Eko Politics had verbally done it again. This time, in a diplomatic style, saying: “Amotekun is good but isn’t what the region needs now.” That phrase could be traced to an unforeseeable race in 2023 lacking in its entirety, the aura of regional integration. What is the essence of the title without the soul? It is time to consider realities above fallacies without drawing recourse on national heritage.

Nigerians are mostly concerned about the security of life and properties, but we got entangled in the opposite. We got locked horns at the security front as men kept wrestling in avail to save lives. The incessant killings and reprisal attacks are on the rise, and the locust kept eating deep into our struggling democratic history. The security chiefs are keeping mute, employing palliative measures of community policing to curb the weight of security lapses. Oneness and unison are being sidelined while the responsibility of the central is gradually fading.

The “Protector of the Realm” in his words – had promised not to let Nigerians down in providing effective leadership and result-oriented leadership that will safeguard and ensure a better life for citizens, assuring that he is conscious of the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and he will keep working to deliver an improved life to Nigerians. But all we have seen and heard is – sending loads of condolence messages condemning every reprisal attack here and there.

Adequate security is no fan of romance and condolence tapes, it is rather about taking punitive measures in curbing the abnormalities in the land, and Amotekun is one of such.

•Meduoye Adeyinka writes from Lagos and can be reached on: yinkopet@gmail.com; +2348185546555

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