OBJ - Speaking his mind on national issues

The mind not to shy away from controversy or say how he feels on national issues, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is one who has persistently remained a thorn in the flesh of the current administration as he has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of mismanaging the security issues engulfing the country.
Obasanjo expressed this view in an exclusive interview published in the February issue of the pan-African magazine, New African. Obasanjo also laid the blame for the deteriorating situation caused by the insurgent Boko Haram at the foot of President Jonathan.

“If the President is the chief security officer of the country and there is a security problem, where do you go for the solution? And if that solution is not coming from the chief security officer, who else inside and outside will get a solution? He has the responsibility to solve the problem, and nobody else should be blamed but him.”

In the same interview, the Ota farmer also challenged claims made by Nigerian literary giant, Chinua Achebe, regarding the country’s civil war in the 1960s. Obasanjo refuted claims that successive Nigerian administrations have marginalized the Igbo ethnic group within the country.

“Maybe he is making those remarks because he is not living in Nigeria. If he was living in Nigeria, when I was the president of this country, an Igbo lady was my Minister of Finance, and Igbo man was the Governor of the Central Bank; an Igbo man was one of the military service chiefs. The permanent representative to the UN was also an Igbo person. What more do you want? For someone to say the civil war has not ended, 40 years after its conclusion, that person is living in the past.”

Aprt from what OBJ has said, for me i fill that the greif, pain and lost of the civil war are still part of an average Igbo man's expression. That ultimately affect their response to national issues.

What do you think people, we need your comments and contributions...
And what do you think can/will remedy this challenge..

The True Meaning Of Jihad

JIHAD is a Term often misunderstood and associated with radical militants. The arabic word is wrongly misinterpretated as “Holy War”, although there is no such thing in islam. Holy war is something undertaken to forcibly subject others to certain religious doctrines, which is forbidden in Islam.

The arabic word “Jihad” means a struggle or striving and applies to any great effort on the personal and social level. It is striving to do good and remove injustice and evil from oneself and the society. This exertion of effort can be spiritual, economic, social or political. For example, one of the highest level of Jihad is to stand before a tyrant and speak a word of truth. Restraining oneself from wrongdoing is also a form of Jihad. It is a broad concept that includes opposing evil inclinations within oneself, opposing injustice through peaceful means, efforts to improve the quality of life in a society as well as the striving by military forces on a battlefield in defence of the community or oppressed people.

Jihad is not synonymus with war and it certainly does not involve terrorism. Armed Jihad is not an option for muslim individuals or groups and can only be declared by the muslim head of state. Moreover it must never be fought for wordly gain, conquest or revenge. Muslims may only engage in battle to protect people’s lives, properties and freedom.

Jihad has conditions of restraint that distinguishes it from any other kind of warfare. They can be summarised as follows.
** Muslims must not begin hostilities. They must strive for peace as much as possible.
** All treaties and agreements must be observed as long as the enemy observes them.
** Muslims must fight only those who fight against them; non-combatants are not to be harmed.
** Weapons of mass destruction must never be used and collective punishment is strictly prohibited.
** Self-defense is not considered jihad if muslims are striking back in revenge.
** Hostilities should be ended as soon as the other party is inclined to peace.
By information Nigeria...

What do you think about the aforesaid... Comment please..

Letter From A Former Slave to His Old Master

 Letter From A Former Slave to His Old Master

A

fter slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, Colonel P.H. Anderson asked his former slave Jourdan Anderson to come back to Tennessee and work for him again. In his eloquent and ironic reply, Jourdan Anderson draws comparisons between his life as a free man and as a slave. As a free man, he receives payment for his work, is treated kindly, and his children go to school. As Colonel Anderson’s slave, he received no wages, was shot at, and his children had no education.

To my old Master, Colonel P. H. Anderson,

Big Spring, Tennessee.

SIR: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable.

Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is, you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, 'Them colored people were slaves' down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future.

I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jourdon Anderson

   In conclusion, I dare say, that those who have there kernel’s cracked for them should not laugh and take advantage of others who are not that fortunate. This is because things can change for the better at any time, and the then oppressed will now be the ones to dictate the pace. Like William Shakespare said;

“Some are born great; some have greatness trust upon them, why some achieve greatness….”

That’s to say greatness will surely come one day………..

   So therefore, I say to the depressed, be patience your day of greatness is closer, do not give up not now and not ever…………

The greatest good you can do for others, is not just to share to him your own riches but to reveal to him his own............. Stephen

“This is dedicated to the oppressed and dejected all over the world”

By. Idahosa Stephen


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Governor Adams Oshiomhole VICTORY in The Supreme Court

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Edo State in last year’s election, Charles Airhiavbere, yesterday lost the legal battle challenging the educational qualification of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The Supreme Court barred him from challenging the governor’s educational qualification and set aside part of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Benin, which ordered fresh hearing of Airhiavbere’s petition.

The appellate court had allowed Airhiavbere to include in his notice of appeal ground to challenge Oshiomhole’s educational qualification. This was against the ruling of the tribunal which ruled that the ground was not contained in Airhiavbere’s petition.

Dissatisfied, Oshiomhole through his legal team of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Ricky Tarfa (SAN), Niyi Akintola (SAN), Femi Falana (SAN), Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) approached the Supreme Court.

Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour who delivered the judgment declared that the trial tribunal was right in stopping Airhiavbere.

“The issue of non-qualification is not clearly before the court. It amounts to injustice for the court to look for other ground for the petitioner,” Justice Rhodes-Vivour said.

“The tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear and determine the non-qualification since it is not contained in the ground of appeal.”

The apex court however said Airhiavbere could still challenge the validity of the election in 51 units in five Local Government.

Justices Mahumd Mohammed, John Fabiyi, Mary Peter-Odili, Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, Bayang Akaahs and Stanley Allagoa agreed with the judgment.

Adopting his written address, Olanipekun had told the apex court that Airhiavbere lost the opportunity to challenge Oshiomhole’s qualification because it was not contained in his ground of petition.

Since he did not specifically plead the issue, Olanipekun said the apex court should not allow Airhiavbere to ambush his client by raising the issue in his argument.

Besides, Olanipekun said there was no basis for the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

According to him, the petitioner grounded his petition on corrupt practice and non- compliance with the Electoral Act 2010, but not on Oshiomhole‘s non-qualification.

He berated the Petitioner/Respondent for asking the Tribunal to declare him as the winner of the election after claiming that the election was invalid.

He wondered why Airhiavbere wanted to benefit from an exercise he claimed was fraudulent.

Olanipekun pointed out that the Respondent is challenging results in only five of the 18 local governments.

“The petitioner makes no presence he was referring to the Electoral Act 2010. There is need for us to discourage this kind of petition: a petition that challenges five out of 18 Local Governments.”

Responding, counsel to Airhiavbere, Chief Efe Akpofure, SAN, asked the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the judgment of the lower court.

He said that the tribunal did not say that there was no ground to sustain the allegation that Oshiomhole lacked the minimum educational qualification to run for governor.

Asked by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour to read the ground of the petition, Akpofure agreed that he lumped the ground challenging the validity of the election with that against Oshomhole’s qualification.

He, however added that the fact that non qualification was not made a separate ground was not a basis to hold that there was no ground in the pleadings to sustain the allegation that Oshiomhole was not qualified.

He urged the Supreme Court to read the whole petition as a whole.

Replying on point of law, Olanipekun urged the court to discountenance Akpofure’s argument, adding that the authorities cited by him did not help his case.

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CONTROVERSIES AS REGARD OSHIOMOLE'S QUALIFICATION

According to PILOT News publication, titled "LET THE TRIBUNAL DETERMINE OSHIOMHOLE’S ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS"
Friday, 14 September 2012. By Kassim Omomia.

As the Edo election tribunal sitting in Benin gears towards another round of making a legal milestone history over the outcome of the July 14 Edo election for which the PDP candidate, General Charles Ariavbhere is challenging the authenticity of the elementary school certificates of the ACN candidate and Edo governor, comrade Adam Oshiomole, not much could be said for now if the result before INEC and contested by the PDP are the true reflection of the comrades governors claims according to reports.


But no matter how critics posit the current certificate anomaly, it is the courts or the tribunal, in this case, that am make a judicial pronouncement.

But accordingly, rather that make a public mince meat of the result issue of the comrade governor, a media gimmick ,especially the social media , one would have expected that the trial should not be prejudged at this stage but that the Edo Tribunal be left alone to determine the academic qualifications of Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as it comes under investigation.

It is true that beside other issues bothering on alleged irregularities in the July 14th polls , General Ariavhere’s position for which he has approached the Tribunal is over Oshiomole’s claim of both primary and secondary school education.
But viewed from the documents he tendered to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alongside an affidavit before the last Edo State Governorship election, the comrade-governor claimed to have attended Iyamoh Primary School, Iyamoh, in the then Midwest state from 1957-1962.

However, according to reports quoting sources at the Edo State Ministry of Education said that the same Iyamoh Primary School was founded in 1976, — about 14 years after the governor supposedly graduated from it.
Though the name on the primary and secondary school certificates simply bore Adams Aliu, and then his Ahmadu Bello University Adult Education certificate (1973-74) (also submitted to INEC) bore Adams O. Aliyu, while subsequent certificates bore his current name Adams Aliyu or Aliu Oshiomhole, his critics see it as an absurdity.

Notwithstanding the pressure of the opposition and their interest in this matter, records show that the comrade governor was born on April 4th, 1952. The comrade governor in a handwritten affidavit he personally deposed to said he had no previous names other than Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.

The Governor also wrote in the affidavit that he attended Iyamoh Primary School, which he did not tender a certificate from the school or the education board to confirm attendance and graduation.
Yes there are also alleged discrepancy in Oshiomhole’s stated date of attending the primary school questions the truthfulness of his claim to have graduated from the elementary school and moved on to a higher school at that time, of which his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Peter Okhiria, declined to comment since according to him, the matter was already in court.

But what discerning minds and critical observers of the political happenings in the state argue is that Oshiomhole has lifted Edo State from the rubbles and terrible leadership the state suffered in the hands of convicted former Governor, Chief Lucky Igbinedion of the PDP, and despite the alleged discrepancies, it is only the judiciary as represented by the tribunal can give verdict on the said academic qualifications.

Though it was gathered that the governor who contested and won back-to-back the last two governorship elections in the state under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and recorded an overwhelming victory over the PDP in the last poll, had reached out to the presidency and the PDP ,following which the party will participate fully in the ACN administration in the manner the governor extended his hands of fellowship to his opponents , including the PDP, sources close to government house Benin noted that the gesture is not connected with the matter presently in the Tribunal.

Against this , his critics see his recent trip as the only governor from the opposition that accompanied President Jonathan on his working visit to Malawi and Botswana on Monday as a true relationship that will finally spur the party and its candidate from puling out of the case eventually. However this goes, analysts are of the view that the intervention of the Oba of Benin, who had earlier informed the President of his desire to see him return as governor smoothened the path for the deal between the governor and the Presidency.

But notwithstanding all the allegation and attendant media hype, the position of the constitution and the proclamation of the tribunal will determine all this, an aide of the governor told pilot politics desk.
According to the 1999 constitution: “a person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if:
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
(b) he has attained the age of thirty-five years;
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and
(d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”
The comrade governor’s reelection it will be recalled, followed his trashing of Charles Airhiarvbere, candidate of the PDP, who was his closest challenger, by 477,478 votes to 144,235, in the July election.



OSHIOMHOLE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS ..

The only thing that I found humiliating is the fact that they said I forged a Modern Three Leaving Certificate,not school certificate.If I chose to forge a certificate,I did not forge Oxford,Cambridge, Harvard,UNIBEN or even AAU that I can call the VC who is my appointee and say arrange something.So, it’s a Modern Three Leaving Certificate that I will forge? What prestige does it confer on me. It doesn’t make any sense.It has even been phased out.It is just crazy.I attended Ruskin College, Oxford.If you Goggle Ruskin College,you will find that it is there,as we speak.It does not require a trip to London to establish that fact.I did not only attended,I was the best foreign student.I won the best foreign student award,as a result of my academic performance. If you are so lazy that you can’t go outside to check this.

My opponent,Retired Major General Airhiavbere,claimed that he went to NIPSS and I know it is true. He went to NIPS in 2008 and he is very proud that he was in NIPSS, but I went to NIPSS about 21 years before him. I was the youngest participant ever in NIPSS in 1987 and my grade is there.I made B+ with all my rascality. The participants at that time included SSS people,military intelligence people and this was under a military regime. Overall,I got a B+.This was 1987. My challenger,who is alleging that I didn’t go to school went to NIPSS in 2008. I am his senior by many years. Among my classmates at NIPSS are people like the former SGF, Ufot Ekaette, Brigadier Tunde Ogbeha,a former senator currently on the NDDC board, Nuhu Aliyu, again a two-time senator from Niger State, who was a DIG of Police. I could go on and on. And they respected my contributions because when you are radical and you proffer radical argument against the received wisdom of the establishment, the general attitude is that people tend to dismiss you.For them to acknowledge that I got a B+ shows how much I put in.

So,what does it require,under the constitution to be eligible to contest election? It’s not school certificate but secondary school attempt.And when you go into the full definition,you find that even a primary school certificate,plus 10 years work experience are enough requirements to contest for the office of the president of Nigeria.This is not my opinion; you can take the constitution and read and find out how it defines qualification. When they were suggesting to amend that section during the last constitution amendment some people were opposed to the idea of amending it.

Would you argue that I’m not literate, that I have not worked for 10 years? These people have no history. They are pathological liars. To lie is their first name,their middle name and their surname. I have abstained from commenting extensively on this issue because I wasn’t sure it will not be subjudice for me to talk about it,but they have continued to sponsor some hired writers to talk about it. If I didn’t go to school, and I can correct retired Airhiavbere about the difference between tiers of government and arms of government,then I’m a genius. I didn’t go to primary school and yet as far as I know,I have done better than him in every material particular intellectually. I can engage any professor in any matter.If I didn’t go to school and I know as much as I believe I do,may be I’m a genius.

Just to make the point,these guys are just lying and the good news is that these institutions are there.You can go to NIPSS on your own and find out if I was there and whether I had a B+ or not. You can go to Ruskin College at Oxford;ask Professor Otobo. He was doing his Ph.D in Oxford while I was there. These people are alive, assuming there was an issue.

At some other level,they argued in their court papers that there was no nexus between Adams Aliu and Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole and there is a difference between Aliu as in ALIU and ALIYU. What is the difference? How a Yoruba man pronounces Oshiomhole is not how Edo man pronounces it. Does it really make any difference? The truth is,I was born in my village, around Auchi area where you have my father a Muslim, my mother a Muslim. ALIU,that is the way our people spell Aliu.Even right now,in my official document here,I saw that the printer,an Edo person,printed Aliu. In the North,they are going to write that same name as ALIYU. I lived all my adult life in the North and so I started spelling my name exactly the way it is spelt in the North because that is how everybody else spells it and I added Oshiomhole because that is my local name, as opposed to Adams Aliu, which are English and Muslim names. Not that I changed name,I just added Oshiomhole to settle the issue of where I come from.If you say that Aliu is not I,that is to say,I didn’t attend the primary school. I didn’t attend the modelschool; you go to Oxford to find out if Adams Aliu,as in ALIYU Oshiomhole attended the school. If yes,is that superior to the requirement of our constitution?

So,this is to say I was a genius.I didn’t go to school,but I was able to read and write to a point that I convinced the school authorities in Oxford that I was eligible to be admitted and that they gave me the benefit of the doubt and admitted me and I performed so well that I was the best overseas student.

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Bauchi Governor, Dismisses Civil Servant Over Facebook Post

Bauchi Governor, Dismisses Civil Servant Over Facebook Post

A civil servant in Bauchi State who made a facebook post questioning the financial integrity of the State Governor has been dismissed. Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State ordered the dismissal of Abbas Faggo over a facebook comment in which he accused the governor of corruption. A letter terminating Mr. Faggo’s appointment and signed by one Ibrahim Shehu for the Head of Service of the State, said his appointment was terminated “because his services are no longer needed”.

The termination of the appointment took effect from October 10 this year when he was first suspended. Mr. Faggo’s troubles started when he accused the governor of monumental fraud and corruption, questioning the source of funding of the governor’s son’s wedding which took place recently. Mr. Faggo had been arraigned by the Police before the Chief Magistrate of the state for the same offence.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Adamu Madaki, on Friday November 16, struck out the case against Mr. Faggo because “it was not properly filed.”

Below is the content of Mr. Faggo’s dismissal letter:
TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT
I am directed to refer to the civil service commission’s letter No.
CSC/PRO/S/001/T.V dated 1st November 2012 to convey the commission’s approval of your suspension and termination of appointment from Bauchi State Service with effect from 10th October, 2012 as your service is no longer required, please.
Signed
ibrahim shehu
For: Head of Service.

Below is the controversial Facebook post which angered the governor, and for which Mr. Faggo was arrested, detained and arraigned in court for allegedly defaming the Mr. Yuguda’s character.
“Those of us resident in Abuja, are witnessing yet another Bauchi wedding, this time we understand is the Governor’s son that is hooking the one-time PDP’s Chairmanship aspirant’s daughter. Inside sources said, already:
“Top officials of the Min. for Local Govt, along with the ALGON Bauchi State chapter are asking the 20 LGA’s to sign out N2m each as donation for the wedding next Saturday of the Gov’s son. They awarded contract for calendars and note pads to an Abuja printing press. Contract for coffee mugs, Wall clocks, bags, badges etc. was given to a Lagos based lady. They will all carry the pictures of the groom and the bride. An SUV Jeep was also suggested as a wedding present to Ango. Finally the 20 LGA chairmen will all send their wives to Abj where the jamboree is taking place because Yuguda is now Abuja based.

“The story is all over town too, that in April $80,000 was sent to the ango on his graduation by the SSG, on the orders of the Gov. This is as a result of request by the groom to buy a limited edition M/Benz Series.
“In Nov, 2009, when the Gov latest wife, also acquired thru Bauchi funds, was having her first child in Washington DC the sum of £150,000 was sent to the SSG by the then Accountant General for onward transmission to Yuguda. One wonders, why all this, as he has 21 kids from 3 wives earlier and all of them born in Nigeria.

The thinking is that he is using Bauchi state money for the purchase of citizenship thru birth, for his latest 2 kids in the USA. Already a house has since been purchased for Yuguda in Maryland through a once upon a time VOA staff, aide of his. “These things are happening in a state where staff salaries are becoming very difficult to pay and inevitable retrenchment is looming day in day out. God save Bauchi State.

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Nigeria needs state police

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday said Nigeria needs state police to keep its nooks and crannies safe at all times.

Ajimobi told reporters in Ibadan, the state capital, that although the police are doing their best to ensure security, the present imposition of a centralised police force on Nigeria’s federal structure has rendered the force inefficient.

He said Nigeria, as a country that practices the Federal System of government, is ripe enough for state police.

The governor said other countries practicing the Federal System, such as the United States (US), Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, India and Ethiopia, have state police.

Nigeria’s Federal and Presidential systems are patterned after those of the US, but the policing system has no bearing to the US’s system.

He said: “The constitution of the US allows the federal, state, local and even special districts, such as universities, to perform police functions. The relationship among all the police services is properly coordinated for the exchange of intelligence and crime prevention.

“The Federal Government of Australia maintains police forces alongside the federating units. Germany is a federation made up of Landers (equivalent of states). The German Constitution concedes most of police powers to the 16 Landers, even though the Federal Government is allowed to legislate on the subject.

“In Switzerland, the constitution empowers the federating units, which are called the Cantons, to share policing functions with the Federal Government. In Canada, the national government shares policing functions with the federating units, which are called provinces.

“In India, each state has its police force. The State Police Force is responsible for maintaining law and order in the townships and rural areas, while major cities have their respective Metropolitan Police Services.

“It is evident from the foregoing that Nigeria’s refusal to reflect the federal structure in its policing structure is the exception, rather than the rule in comparative federal systems.

“The challenges of the police, such as funding, manpower and training, could be easily addressed if Nigeria adopts a federalist police structure through state police.”

The governor said the review the 1999 Constitution should include the establishment of state police.

He said: “My conviction is based on my experience. I was a member of the Senate between 2003 and 2007 and I partook in the federal exclusive legislative responsibility of police functions.

“I have been governor for about 19 months now and anyone conversant with the history of Oyo State will know it is no mean feat to be the Chief Security Officer of a state like Oyo.

“When I assumed office, the state was one of the most turbulent states in Nigeria. Brigandage, violence and a culture of impunity were the order of the day.”

Ajimobi praised officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force for complementing his administration’s initiatives to address the fundamentals that predisposed the state to such violence.

He said: “While the officers and men of the police have been supportive, the structure of centralised police has made it impossible for us to move at a desirable speed.”

The governor said the provision of state police should come with checks and balances that would preclude the police from abuse by governors.

He suggested the establishment of a state police service commission, of which the Chief Judge, paramount traditional rulers, representatives of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (SCIA) will be members.

Ajimobi said a review of the national revenue formula and a change in the priorities of states could ensure that state police, when created, could be effectively funded by state governments.

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