Forest Rangers: Makinde Leads The Way…

By Bola BOLAWOLE
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A few days ago I read former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying that the insecurity situation of the country is more perilous – and worrisome – now than it was during his tenure as president. I think Obasanjo is guilty of over-generalization. In some parts of the country, the South-west especially, it would seem to me that the security situation today is better than what it was under the immediate past Muhammadu Buhari administration. The state of insecurity may have worsened or been epileptic in some parts of the North, though, while Igboland continues to be the killing field it has been in the past many years.

Nigeria is one country where human memory is very short and yesterday’s villains dorn the toga of messiah the day after. There is hardly any consequence for bad behaviour, especially when the culprits are those who pride themselves as being beyond censor. Otherwise, leaders like Obasanjo ought not to have found their voice so quickly after their ruinous reign, least of all bestride the polity propounding laughable theories and proposing solutions they snubbed while in office and pointing accusing fingers at others when they themselves are the accused-in-chief!

Security breaches in the South-west are far in-between now, unlike the situation in the past when it was a daily occurrence. The fact that the protectors of the criminals are no longer in power and in a position to offer them protection is one of the reasons why this is so. Another is that the current managers of the country’s security architecture appear to me to be more interested in getting the job done than was the case under the past administration.

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Like the vile dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, was quoted as saying, if insurgency persists, then, those in authority have a hand in it! The Buhari administration surely had a hand in the criminality that hallmarked his eight years in office. While a lot more still needs to be done to curtail and contain insecurity, it appears that more efforts are being put into the task in some parts of the country, the South-west in particular. The latest of such initiatives is the Forest Rangers unveiled by Gov. Seyi Makinde in Oyo State this week.

Regular readers will be conversant with my incessant advocacy for the South-west especially to leverage Forest Rangers (Forest Guards or So’gbo-So’gbo as they used to be called) to complement Amotekun and other security apparatuses that may be available to keep the region safe. In those Buhari years when prominent members of the administration were the mouthpiece, defenders and protectors of rampaging Fulani herdsmen and bandits, the South-west governors came up with their own security network codenamed Amotekun.

The Buhari administration and Fulani establishment would have none of it. All manner of obstacles were put in the way but the South-west governors led by the late Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, stood their ground. I recall that while the back-and-forth over the legality or otherwise of Amotekun raged, as well as its propriety to carry sophisticated firearms just like the rampaging herdsmen, Femi Falana, SAN, came up with the idea that the South-west governors could achieve the same purpose of securing their region with the Forest Rangers that already had appropriate legal backing to carry arms. No one appeared ready to take that route.

When two Ekiti Obas were gruesomely killed by bandits on January 29, 2024 and I was on the AFENIFERE delegation that commiserated with the state governor, His Excellency Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO), I seized the opportunity to ask him questions on the Forest Rangers, Yes; he was aware of it! Indeed, the entire South-west governors would soon act on the idea after they must have accorded their colleague, the late Akeredolu (who died on 27 December, 2023), a befitting burial.

Writing on Gov. Oyebanji’s second anniversary only last week, I also made reference to my discussion with the governor. It was, therefore, pleasant to hear, this week, that Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has blazed the trail on the Forest Rangers initiative. It means Gov. Oyebanji spoke the truth when he said himself and his governor-brothers in the South-west were working on the idea. Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself had also said in January this year that his government was considering the same idea of Forest Guards to tackle insecurity across the country.

Now that Makinde has blazed the trail, we should expect the other South-west governors to quickly follow suit. This is how a news medium reported the story; titled “Makinde inaugurates 480 Amotekun Forest Rangers… To establish airstrips for security surveillance”, it reads: “Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has inaugurated 480 Amotekun Forest Rangers, promising that his government will continue to give priority attention to the security of residents of the state. He explained that plans are underway to establish airstrips in Igbeti and Otu towns respectively, noting that the state government will also provide aircraft security gadgets to support and enhance security surveillance activities in the state”.

Makinde was also quoted as saying he would approve hardship allowance for all Amotekun corps while reiterating the commitment of his government towards supporting all security outfits in the state. He said since he assumed office in 2019, his government has “continued to invest heavily to secure Oyo State by supporting our security agencies to carry out their duties efficiently and effectively. But we knew that more needed to be done to secure life and property. You will agree with me that one of the biggest achievements in security was the creation and operationalisation of the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun by governors of the South-West states… We recognised that there was more to be done to address kidnapping, banditry and other illegal activities in our forests and this is what led to the initiative to establish Forest Rangers as a sub-unit of Amotekun in 25 local government areas, with about 480 recruits out of the 561 passing out today.

“These rangers are to work within the forests in their local government areas alongside other stakeholders and other community groups. Their task is to secure our farmers and other people engaged in commercial activities. They are also to preserve our natural resources to prevent illegal activities… Let me once again restate our commitment to providing all that is required to ensure that Oyo Amotekun can deliver on their mandate. We will continue to provide the equipment needed and monthly operational grant to ensure smooth operations…”

I think we should end it there. One of the reasons why food prices are costly these days is because insecurity has driven farmers off the land. Oke-Ogun area of Oyo state alone can feed the entire South-west, if not the whole country. So, if Oyo state and, indeed, the South-west is made more secure, the problem of escalating cost of foodstuffs can be arrested. And as the elders say, once hunger is out of poverty, whatever is left becomes manageable!

Kudos, Gov. Seyi Makinde! Over to you the other South-west governors!

FEEDBACK

On the “owners” of Nigeria

Nigeria is, indeed, “owned” by six persons/interest groups and they consider the Jagaban (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) to be an upstart who does not belong. The six are (1) OBJ and his boys: the oligarchs, including Dangote, Elumelu, Otedola and the Access Boys; (2) IBB and the Niger State mafia; (3) Gen. Theophilus Danjuma and his Middle Belt cohorts; (4) General Aliyu Gusau and the Northwest cohorts; (5) the remnants of Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s cohorts, including Atiku Abubakar and (6) the Daura mafia, enriched recently by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retired). – Anonymous.

On “Fear history”

Is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu bothered about legacy? His government will be remembered for the hardship it has inflicted on Nigerians. Let him sort out the foreign exchange issue. Is this not the same country where the Naira was more valuable than the US dollar? So, what has happened? Except a country is export-focused, it cannot survive with an endless devaluation of its currency. – Bola Olowo.

Thank you, Sir, for reminding us of the Kunle Adepeju Day celebrated with nostalgia annually every February 1 at my alma mater, the great premier University of Ibadan. During our time as students [Great Uites] in the early 1980s, people like Comrade Ola Oni of the National Advance Party, NAP, among others were invited to give speeches. What bothers me now is that social welfarism or Marxism seems only limited to campus life. Many among those who profess such ideals when on campus, castigating politicians or the privileged people running the country down due to their corrupt ways of life, usually graduate and do what is worse. Thus, as you rightly pointed out, the million-dollar question is: when will Nigeria, the so-called giant of Africa, realize the dream of greatness? Things seem to get worse every day (while) we keep hoping that tomorrow will be better. It is only through dogged determination and a change of mindset by Nigerians that the country can become great. So, where is Comrade Dr. Segun Osoba? – From Dr. JF Olukotun.

My response: Comrade is at home in Ijebu-Ode. A book launch in his honour is in the works. I will keep my readers posted.

* Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of The WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday TRIBUNE and TREASURES column in NEW TELEGRAPH newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.