From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Following the gruesome murder of nine men, one woman and a child in Igangan in Ibarapa zone of Oyo State by gunmen suspected to be criminal herdsmen last Saturday night, Governor Seyi Makinde, has reassured the state that his administration is readjusting the security architecture of the state with a view to responding to the current situation of kidnapping, banditry and other forms of criminality across the state.
He gave the assurance on Thursday in the ‘State of the State’ address he presented on the second anniversary of the Oyo State Ninth Assembly held at the parliament chambers, Agodi, Ibadan.
The anniversary, which was presided over by the Speaker, Adebo Ogubdoyin, was also attended by the depity governor, Rauf Olaniyan and top government functionaries, as well as the state chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kunmi Mustapha.
Makinde started the address with what he described as the salient issue that affected people in the Ibarapa zone, adding that Ogundoyin was with him when he visited Igangan on Tuesday to assess the damages caused by the attacks on the people.
“And we are determined to ensure that such an attack will not repeat itself again. For this reason, we are adjusting our security architecture to respond to our current situation.”
Makinde, who noted that in spite of security challenges, his administration has continued to “prioritise the security of our people. In the past year, we have operationalised the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun. We held the passing out parade of 1,500 corps members and deployed them to all 33 local government areas of Oyo State. We set up a Security Task Force, which meets weekly to assess security threats and proffer solutions that would work for us.
“We have strengthened our security architecture by expanding the operations of the Security Control Room and City Watch facilities at the Oyo State Security Trust Fund Headquarters, Onireke, Jericho, here in Ibadan. Right now, we can monitor activities at Mamu Village, on the Oyo/Ogun States border where we set up a Security Joint Force Base. We also supported federal security operatives by providing operational vehicles, communication gadgets, bullet-proof vests and other security equipment to facilitate their work.”
Makinde said his government
christened 2020 as year of continued consolidation, adding: “This is because we continued to build on the gains of our first year in office. We have not deviated from our Roadmap to Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023. And so, our administration has continued to focus on the four pillars: Economy, Education, Healthcare and Security.
“We have continued with our economy first approach to governance. The prosperity of the people of Oyo State is the core driver of our policies and projects. Consequently, we are getting some of the best results of good governance in Nigeria.
“We grew our Internally Generated Revenue by about N1billion each month. This gives us N12billion to plough back into the economy each year. We have invested these monies wisely in infrastructure development, especially in the construction of roads.”