Ajimobi attributes devt. in Oyo to peace, tranquility
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has attributed the unprecedented development the state is currently witnessing to the peace and tranquility which had been put in place by his administration.
Governor Ajimobi gave these indications while delivering a lecture entitled “Democratic Governance and National Security: the Oyo State Experience’’ at the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) of the Directorate of State Security in Abuja on Monday.
The governor, who reeled out the massive infrastructural development so far executed by his administration as well as the urban renewal programme which had c hanged the face of the state, said they could not have possible if the violence and brigandage which had pervaded the state before his coming on board had been allowed to continue.
He recalled that before the advent of his administration, the state had become a classic “state of nature” where anyone who went to work in the morning had no guarantee that he would return home in one piece.
“As thugs, abetted by the then state government, were shooting guns indiscriminately at Olomi, so were miscreants stabbing themselves at Iwo Road. Vandalism of property became the norm and investors avoided Oyo State like a plague.
“We came in with a pedigree of peace and with the help of God, we have changed that typecast and the state is today harvesting the fruits of our peace. Companies and investors are trooping into the state. Our government was able to achieve this as a result of the objective and dispassionate approach to addressing security issues,
with the aim of restoring the dignity of our people that had eluded them in time past,’’ he said.
Governor Ajimobi said that one of the pro-active measures his administration undertook to curb crime and hooliganism in the state was to provide jobs for 20,000 youths in the state, stressing “what this means to us is taking away from the streets potential locus of crimes and insecurity.
“Though fraught with its attendant negatives as many hooligans unfortunately passed through our screening cordon, necessitating its disbandment and subsequent re-engagement of the youth, this bold step has cleared a substantial number of the youth off the streets, and by that very fact, off tendency to insecurity.’’
He added that the inauguration of Oyo State Joint Security Patrol Squad codenamed “Operation Burst’’ in December 2011 was another step taken by his administration to check the high rate of insecurity in the state.
This bold step, he said, had helped to reposition and reduce crime in the state to the barest minimum, stressing that almost four years down the line, his administration had been able to show the world that what was needed to bring peace to an otherwise violent state was not rocket science but leadership, commitment and a pedigree of peace.
“We should remember that peace is the irreducible minimum that any government must offer the people. Infrastructure and other developmental strides can only be built upon the superstructure of peace. Our goal is to achieve an economically prosperous, politically-stable and just society where security of life and property of the generality of citizens and residents is guaranteed against threats or attacks.
“According to the statistics available to us as government, through our administration’s efforts of providing social safety nets for our people, setting up and equipping dedicated crime response outfit, purchasing 119 patrol vehicles for security agencies, construction of security control centres, murder rate, which stood at 121 before year 2011 when we took over office, has remained nil.
“Kidnapping, which was 45, is three till date; armed robbery that was 261 is four at the moment; arson that was 35 is today nil, grievous harm and wounding which was 1,119, is nil and bank armed robbery that was eight before we took over office is nil till date in Oyo State.
The governor, who opined that the architecture of national security was holistic, involving military preparedness as well as economic and social forces that must be put in place, said that the state had effectively demonstrated this in its provision of physical violence-deterrence infrastructure, as well as curtailment of a major
social force that could instigate insecurity.
The governor also said that the rising rate of unemployment in Nigeria has greatly increased insecurity of lives and property through armed robberies, militancy, kidnapping and terrorism.
According to him, if the country desires a security of its borders and even its internal public, concerted efforts must be made to provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth who graduate every year and are thrown into the grueling unemployment market.
