The governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, has denounced the federal government’s apparent failure to improve the security of the Federation’s states.
Akeredolu claimed that the Federal Government was acting like an ostrich by letting states decide how to protect citizens’ lives and property while instead giving select private security companies in the nation more power.
The governor mentioned this in a statement he made through his Chief Press Secretary on Wednesday, August 31.
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This was a response to the Federal Government allegedly contracting some private security companies recently to guard the pipelines against vandalism.
According to the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, the action of the FG has implied that it permitted
private security outfits “to bear heavy assault weapons while denying the same privilege to the states, the federating units,” to tackle insecurity.
The statement read in part;
The news concerning the purported award of pipeline contracts to some individuals and private organisations by the Federal Government has been unsettling. More disquieting is the barely disguised hostility displayed against either the idea or the actual establishment of security outfits by some State Governments to fill the widening gaps in the scope of security coverage noticeable nationally.
The Federal Government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, has been consistent in its refusal to accede to the request by some states in the Federation to strengthen the complementary initiatives adopted to protect lives and property.
This is done in spite of the knowledge that the very issues which necessitated the creation of these outfits support providing adequate weaponry.
All attempts to persuade the Federal Government to look critically into the current security architecture have been rebuffed despite the manifest fundamental defects engendered by over-centralisation.
On Award Of Pipeline Contract
Akeredolu further criticised the award of pipeline contracts to security organisations which might lead to insecurity due to the permission granted to non-state actors to bear arms.
It is, therefore, shocking to read that the Federal Government has maintained the award of the contract to ‘protect’ the country’s pipeline from vandals to private organisations. This story, if true, leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
The NSA will, obviously, not advise the President to approve the award of a contract of such magnitude if the operators have not displayed sufficient capacity to checkmate the criminal activities of equally powerful groups.
Consequently, it is safe to conclude that the Federal Government has, impliedly, permitted non-state actors to bear heavy assault weapons while denying the same privilege to the states, the federating units.
