Awujale To FG: End Herdsmen Killings In Nigeria Now
One of the foremost traditional rulers and Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona on Thursday appealed to the Federal Government to end incessant killings by herdsmen in the country.
The monarch made the appeal at his second annual professorial lecture on ‘Civil Society and Governance in Nigeria’s Evolving Democracy held at Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
Oba Adetona also appealed to the security agencies to tackle cases of armed robbery, thuggery and kidnapping that is currently rocking the country.
According to him, before colonial rule, the traditional institutions were in control of their people and even when the colonial master came, they recognised their roles as custodian of people.
He stressed that since the politicians too over traditional rulers were side-lined, rendering the obas who were in charge of governance and their people otiose.
He advised that when government want to come out with policy, they should consult traditional rulers for inputs.
Also speaking, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun disclosed that the traditional institutions will help promote good governance as well as quality academic research in Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU).
Amosun who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga said this year’s lecture has shielded the role the civil society played in the nation’s quest since 1999.
Earlier, a Professor at the department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ayo Olukotun argued that civil society in Nigeria is not dead but obviously in a state of stupor which requires reawakening.
In his lecture, the renowned Professor who researched on Professor Itse Sagay statement that civil society is dead, believes that it must assert itself more daringly than ever before in a public sphere with a view to pushing more the frontiers of the struggle against impunity and democratic consolidation.
His words, “Undoubtedly, civil society can no longer be the informal parliament or opposition which it was under the military, given that many society activists are now members of political parties and obviously reflect partisan rather than society wide perspectives.
“Civil society, as indeed any organisation cannot be cherished if it fails to speak to the anguish and woes of a blighted citizenry in a country where the political class has gone gaga with stupendous cornering of the nation’s resources.
“Is civil society dead? I don’t think so, but it is obviously in a state of stupor, and requires reawakening”, he added.
