By Elijah Udofia
Peace and tranquility are catalysts that drive development in any society. No state or nation can grow or experience development in the midst of chaos and instability. Stability attracts investors, tourists and generally makes life enjoyable to the citizens. It is therefore safe to say with a measure certainty that a nation’s development can be gauged through its stability.
Insecurity, no doubt is one of the problems confronting the Nigeria today. The country is bedeviled with various forms of security challenges ranging from kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, serial and ritual killers, financial crimes and cultism, to mention a few.
The level of insecurity has risen to an all-time high and this has made the federal government to adopt stringent measures against criminal elements, while almost all the states have set up their own security outfits. Even local governments, regarded as the closest to the people, have also adopted various voluntary policing and informal security architecture to safeguard the lives and properties of people.
One is happy to note that Ogun and Oyo states have taken the issue of insecurity very seriously. To nip the menace in the bud and ensure that their respective state does not become a haven for criminals, the two governments few days ago met in Abeokuta to synergise and come with practical measures in tackling security especially in their border areas.
At the meeting, the governors – Dapo Abiodun and Seyi Makinde, agreed to form a Joint Security Task Force as well as a high level Joint Security Committee that would proactively provide the needed security to the border communities and roads linking the two states.
One of the duties of the committee when it begins operation is to train and reorient members of the task force on their operational rules to guard against unwholesome practice, which is synonymous among members of security agencies in the country.
While one is happy with the latest development, the fact that officials of both states will meet regularly to provide oversight, review progress and take necessary action or actions and in most cases, jointly collaborate on emergencies and attend to distressed calls on highways crisscrossing the two sister states, is something to be commended as it would allow not only for sharing of experiences among officials, but would also give travellers and other road users confidence while on the roads.
Since security is the responsibility of all, one is happy that the governors thought it wise that apart from installing Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) on the interstate highways, they equally mandated the joint task force to be set up to effectively engage, cooperate and collaborate with all stakeholders like the government at the centre, states, traditional and religious institutions and community development associations. The engagement of these groups of people will not only ensure that they get necessary inputs, but also the needed support that would improve securing in the two states.
The meeting of the two governors is a right step in the right direction. It goes to show that the formation of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (the DAWN Commission) by the six states that made up the old Western Nigeria is yielding positive results.
The collaboration between Ogun and Oyo states is coming barely a year when similar step was taken between Ogun and the Lagos State government to work together for the benefit of their people.
While commending this partnership and hoped that it would achieve its aims, I want to urge the two state governments not to allow this lofty ideas to be only on paper, but work towards its realization. In the same vain, state governments in other parts of the country can take a cue from this by collaborating to put in place, security measures that will allow their people to sleep with their two eyes closed.
