The Olowu Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Makama Oyelude has said the security challenges and growing waves of kidnapping for ransom confronting the Southwest region were long foreseen.
Oba Oyelude made this revelation during a visit by the leadership of the Osun Online Publishers Association, OOPA, on Sunday.
Oba Oyelude stressed the need for modern technological solutions in tackling insecurity, emphasising that the deployment of drones and surveillance equipment would significantly reduce risks faced by security personnel.
According to the traditional ruler, “The wave of insecurity in the Southwest is what had been foreseen ahead of time. I believe the Federal Government and governors in the Southwest are up to the task. Security budgets have been approved, but what we need now is proper coordination and application of platforms, both hardware and software.
“Rather than endangering our security personnel unnecessarily, drone technology and surveillance equipment will solve a lot of problems.”
The royal father also urged residents of the Southwest not to panic, encouraging citizens to remain vigilant and cooperate with security agencies.
“If you see something, say something. The major issue is that security situations should never be politicized under any disguise,” he warned.
Speaking further, the Olowu of Kuta said the burden of national security rests largely on the Federal Government, noting that state governments have limited control over federal security structures.
“No state government controls the Commissioner of Police in its state, neither does any governor control a Brigade Commander, talk less of a General Officer Commanding,” he said.
He advocated for the strengthening of regional security outfits such as Amotekun across southwest states while urging the Federal Government to deploy more technological platforms to complement local security efforts.
“In the Southwest, we already have a nomenclature of state policing through Amotekun. Every state government should strengthen its Amotekun corps, while the Federal Government should also up its game by deploying more security platforms,” he noted.
Oba Oyelude lamented the diminishing constitutional relevance of traditional rulers in Nigeria, declaring that monarchs today possess influence but lack legal authority.
“No monarch has real power again; what we have today are influential monarchs. The powers of traditional rulers were eroded long ago. Traditional rulers are not even mentioned in one line of the constitution, yet councillors are mentioned multiple times,” he stated.
According to him, the absence of constitutional roles for monarchs has weakened grassroots intelligence gathering and local security management.
“How many traditional rulers have been kidnapped or killed? We can only offer advice. The policy file of every traditional ruler is sitting on the desk of the local government secretary. We are merely managing that table so that it does not break,” he stated.
The monarch, however, disclosed that dialogue between traditional institutions and government authorities remains ongoing at both state and national levels.
“There is dialogue. The Federal Government and state governments are talking to us. There are interface meetings through the National Council of Traditional Rulers and state councils. We are the closest to the people,” he said.
Oba Oyelude called on the National Assembly to expedite legislative action that would formally recognize traditional rulers in Nigeria’s constitution.
“The speed with which the National Assembly passes executive bills should also be used to enact laws that will include traditional rulers in the constitution,” he said.
Drawing references from the traditional governance structure of the past, the monarch explained that local intelligence gathering used to begin from community leadership structures before modernization weakened those systems.
“When a visitor entered a community, the compound head or village head would immediately ask questions about the visitor. Intelligence gathering started from there. But today, we do not have constitutional roles,” he explained.
He urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government to recognize traditional rulers as critical partners in national development and security management.
“If the Federal Government truly wants it done, no executive bill spends more than 72 hours at the National Assembly. We expect Mr. President to be magnanimous enough to see traditional rulers as partners in progress,” the Olowu of Kuta declared.
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