A frontline rights activist, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin has lamented the proliferation of unlicensed firearms in the country, saying it was fueling the killings by armed bandits.
She said the uncontrolled firearms in circulation was responsible the killings and worsened security situation in Nigeria.
Odumakin spoke alongside fellow guest lecturer, Prof Dele Adetoye yesterday in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, at the first Comrade Bunmi Ojo Memorial Lecture.
DAILY POST recalls that Ojo, former Governor Segun Oni’s Personal Assistant, was shot dead exactly a year ago at a football viewing centre in Adebayo area of Ado Ekiti by assailants.
Delivering the lecture entitled: “The tragedy of the murder of Comrade Bunmi Ojo: Implications for youth development and national security”, Odumakin who was represented at the event by the General Secretary of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), Ifeanyi Odili , also attributed unwarranted killings in the country to poor policing system .
According to her, “Another cause of his death is majorly traceable to poor policing in Nigeria because Nigeria is far below the United Nation’s standard of policing. We find ourselves in this critical security mess in Nigeria
“Soon after the exit of the military and eventual return to democracy, firearms became a common commodity. People became so free to move around with guns, AK47, AK49, pump action unlicenced.
” This catastrophe that befell Bunmi Ojo will continue to skyrocket in Nigeria until our leaders sit together, speak to each other from their subconscious and inner reassesses of their minds, with a view to outlaw the arbitrary use of guns before,during and after political campaigns. In fact, it is worthwhile to phase it out, outrightly in our polity. In military era, you dare not carry kitchen-knife outside your homes how much more guns flying around the country,” she said.
While identifying intolerance as one of the major obstacles to Nigeria’s nurturing democracy, she said, “Nigerians, particularly political class have demonstrated their inability to tolerate and accommodate one another religiously, politically, socially,and economically.”
Professor Adetoye, who also spoke on the same topic, noted that Nigeria’s distant and recent political and socio-economic history is replete with proactive and productive roles played by the youths in nation building and socio-economic political development of the Nigerian nation which late Ojo represented.
” Rather than engage profitable ventures, majority of Nigerian youth deploy their energies and competence to socio economic vices such as cybercrime, money rituals, armed robbery, rape, drug abuse, political thuggery, cultism, yet political class and policy makers use them as political thugs and election riggers rather than prepare them to take over the leadership of this nation. The youths are noe responding to incentives that do not reward hardworking,” he said.
The Professor of political science called on the government to work on security apparatus to protect the citizenry and also come up with policy action that would improve crime prevention, detection and apprehension.
He said the government must also formulate appropriate policies geared towards reorientating the youth to become proactive and development friendly.
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