Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, have jointly called on the Houses of Assembly in the South West to give legal backing to the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), code-named Operation Amotekun, through appropriate legislation.
The duo made the call when they spoke at the 2020 edition of Oodua Festival held in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Thursday.
Oba Ogunwusi urged each of the six Houses of Assembly to fast track the process that would make Amotekun lawful and achievable, saying: “In Yorubaland and across the South West, things have changed with the introduction of Amotekun.
“I am happy for the southwest governors, and this victory actually reflects the fact that there is little we can achieve without unity, and that is why I am appealing to all traditional rulers to work in ensuring that Amotekun comes to stay.”
In the same vein, Gani Adams, also reiterated the need to legalise the
new initiative, saying Nigerians abroad could now bring investors that would help develop the country. He noted that the victory being achieved through Amotekun has showcased the beauty of speaking with one voice.
His words: “It shows that in unity, everything is possible. So, I am using this opportunity to appeal to all the states Houses of Assembly to do the needful by legislating on the initiative, by giving it the necessary legal backing. When this is done, we can be sure of winning the war for a better future.
“Now that Operation Amotekun has come to stay, many of our members that came from abroad, across the 87 countries, where OPU is presently located, are happy that the South West is safe for them.
“They can now leverage this new opportunity to bring investors into the country. It is not enough to have them abroad. It is good and ideal if they can come back home, bring investors that can help develop the South West for us.
“This is possible if we create the enabling environment. There are hopes in eco-tourism, there are hopes in developing agric-tourism, there are hopes in arts and sports tourism as it is done in the developed climes.”
The guest lecturer, Dr. Abiodun Agboola from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, in his remarks, said the Yoruba culture is like a nexus that could lead the race to greatness, adding that foreigners would rather promote their culture and tradition.
“Those that colonised us will never abandon their culture and tradition. They usually add other cultures instead; they would cultivate the habit of embracing other people’s culture.”
He said the Yoruba have both visible and invisible cultures, as he appealed “to everybody not to ignore our culture, and tradition.”
