Top Ekiti Monarch, Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oba Adebanji Ajibade Alabi, Afuntade 1 has disclosed that the traditional rulers are being underutilized in tackling the state of insecurity bedeviling the country.
While speaking with Joshua Uloko, Editor of The Pride Newspaper in his palace at Ilawe Ekiti State, he noted that the level of insecurity in the country calls for a serious concern, Oba Ajibade said it is clear that the traditional rulers are not put into maximum use in managing security matters in the country.
According to the former Chairman of Council of Ekiti Obas, there are indications of gradual improvements compared to what it used to be in the previous administrations, “there are still rooms for improvements. But one thing that is sacrosanct and that is obvious is that the traditional rulers are being underutilized in managing security matters in the country.
“The traditional institutions, the monarchs are the closest to the grassroots people. If anybody enters this town today I will get to know. I know what is happening everywhere. People would call me, people would come to see me and give me information.
“If we have such an access to our people in the grassroots, we need to be put into proper use to ensure peace, concord and harmony in our society.”
He added that now the cost of living has grown wings and flew to the sky, the traditional rulers are not having the enablement to fund what is obligatorily required of them in the area of security.
“We all know that things have become very expensive now, the price of everything has skyrocketed. So, it becomes very difficult for traditional rulers to fund what is required of them in the area of security. Government should do something about this.”
The monarch urged the government to “Engage the traditional rulers, give them tasks, and give them assignments on security related issues, so that they would to plough back not only to their immediate communities but to their states.”
Oba Ajibade recalled when he was the chairman of the traditional council in Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers between 2019 and 2022, and said “we have a lot meetings in Abuja with Mr President then, President Mohammadu Buhari, and we gave him many pieces of advice on how to navigate the issue of insecurity in the country that has pervaded our society. And he found this quite useful on how the unmanned space within our country, by implication our kingdoms, should be managed.”
He stated that if this line of thought is keyed into the towns and villages “will not provide safe havens for criminal elements. Because when they are not manned, they are not controlled, they will provide safe havens for criminal elements. That is why they can start threatening the peace and security of the larger society.
“So the traditional rulers should be more utilized to ensure the security of our country. And we know what it entails, the traditional institutions should be properly engaged. So the traditional institutions will not be for people to just wear regalia and living in affluence and opulence, while their people are wallowing in poverty, impoverished and in pain. And this can only be achieved with the support of government.
“My advice is that government should map out strategy to deploy the traditional rulers in tackling this security issue in the country. The traditional rulers at the local government level should have meeting with the security agencies to give them information, give them intelligence on what to do in the state, where to go and how to nab the criminal elements.
“You know, what are the core ROE (rules of engagements) to be used in curbing the crisis? Because he (the traditional ruler) will have to use his local experience within the community to assist and facilitate their work. The National Council of Nigerian Traditional Rulers has been playing significant roles quite prominently, when I was the Chairman of Council of Ekiti Obas, we do visit the president from time to time to give advice and guidance.” The monarch said that the meeting of the traditional rulers are made rotational, “We meet at the state and national level, rotate the meeting. It could be in Port Harcourt today, it wil be in Kano tomorrow, next could be in Lagos or Benin. We are interacting with each other to ensure oneness, peace and security in the country.
“And the people, seeing that the traditional rulers are synergizing, it will put an end to all the fratricidal and internecine wars among our people. It will end because all these irredentist movements, the clamour for separation, segregation, division and what have you are community based. It will end because your monarch up there is collaborating with the other monarchs from other geopolitical zones. So we are more of a pacesetter as at now, and I can assure you that the traditional rulers are fully prepared to assist the government over all these problems of insecurity that gives us so much concerns in the country,” the Kabiyesi said.
While acknowledging somewhat improved security, Alawe said “But so far so good, we need to thank the current leadership in the country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over what he has been doing about the security situation generally in the country. And the military hierarchy too, the security agencies, they have really lived up to the expectation.
“Without discountenancing the little problems here and there, there is no doubt that there is an improvement. But there is still rooms for improvements again over the security issues. Government should try as much as possible to enlist the support and the involvement of the traditional institutions, challenge them and task them to do the needful. And they will be able to understand you, they will know your area of specialization to ensure full compliance and a peaceful society will be achieved.
On what the traditional rulers have been doing is to assist the Ekiti State government, the monarch said “We have various security outfits within our various communities. We have done a lot to ensure that they are refurbished to be able to function effectively. For instance, look at this police station here, there is a lot that we have put into it to ensure it is functioning very well. Now they can combat crimes with functional police equipment. At times we mobilize them financially to be able to undertake their patrols, fuel their vehicles and encourage them to be on guard to ensure that the community is not shut down by men of the underworld.”
