OPEN LETTER TO THE NEWLY APPOINTED OYO STATE AMOTEKUN BOARD OF GOVERNANCE CHAIRMAN BY SEGUN ADEBOWALE

I want to congratulate you for emerging as the new Chairman for the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Board of governance. I want to believe that fate has been kind to you, by coming first in the criteria used in appointing the new Oyo State Amotekun Board Chairman. The feelers around are also confirming that your appointment is well deserved considering your experience and competence. Please accept my hearty congratulations once again.

Let me also use this medium to commend our service men and women of the Oyo State Amotekun Corps for ensuring the protection of lives and properties in Oyo State, in fact the Oyo citizens appreciate your service. Also, I commend the effort of the Oyo State governor, his Excellency Engineer Oluseyi Makinde and other stake-holders, for giving the duo a great opportunity to serve. Like I always say, no matter the reservation or sentiment anyone has for the Oyo State Amotekun Corps, without any of Amotekun operatives in our local government on ground, lives will be brutish, nasty and short.

Sir, you have taken over the goodwill and liability of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps. I can only wish you an emphatic success in office as your success or otherwise will have a serious impact on the ordinary people on the street, local government council and the state as a whole, even in the South West region.

As you settle down sir, I urge you to be professional and write your name in gold by giving us a new Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps the Oyo State citizens are craving for in order for the Amotekun operatives to gain the trust of the society. 

Being a concerned Oyo State citizen, I have been pleading for professional administration in the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps, which I believe, you as a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) shall bring the Nigeria police professional structure to the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun corps, to ease the administrative problems in the Agency and to enable the Oyo State Amotekun operatives experience a good working condition as the Ondo State Amotekun are doing.

The Oyo State citizens and Oyo State Amotekun operatives are yearning for the right Oyo State indigene who shall lead the Oyo State Amotekun Board of governance to formulate a professional regulations in line with section 39 (1) of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020, which shall transform the Agency to professional security outfit before the arrival of expected “State Police” (if the state police will come, but before its arrival, professionalism should be put in place for the Oyo State Amotekun). Sir, act excellently on the;

1. Regulation that shall make departments of the Agency to function in line with section 4. 

2.Regulations that shall create zones for the Agency. (Section 17 (1) 

regulation that shall lead to appointment of deputy commanders to be in charge operations unit and monitoring unit of each zone (section 17 1&2)

3. Regulation which shall give Oyo State Amotekun complaints committee other functions. (Section 24 e)

4. Regulation which shall gives the Oyo State Amotekun operatives an appointment letter stating terms and condition of service to the operatives and officers pensionable (section 37; 1&2).

5. Regulation which shall gives the Oyo State Amotekun operatives and officers a paramilitary code of conduct or guideline and operational manual (section 8 a-c)

Sir, make regulations generally for carrying into effect the provisions of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020 (section 39 1 a-c)

The Oyo State Amotekun operatives earnestly hope you can be the one they have been patiently waiting to celebrate locally and globally.

Sir, Segun Adebowale might have been painted black by some miscreants in the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun corps who have paddled the canoe of Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun corps for the past three years without professionalism.

Permit me to call your attention to more pertinent areas that make-up unprofessional administration since 2020 till date.

Training and retraining exercise: Training is very vital in all human activities. If the Oyo State Amotekun operatives are better trained, they will serve the public better and Oyo State citizens will have confidence in them. Since year 2020 the Oyo State Amotekun operatives were just given two session of impromptu training that were prompted by consistent request of Segun Adebowale. 

Gradually, the training aspect of professionalism in the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun corps is now being carried out, but not as expected in the sense that it is rank/grade level or department that suppose to be the yard-stick for those that can be invited for the training exercise/seminar, has it being practice in the Oyo State Civil Service Commission. 

This system of administration is against section (8d, e) and (15e) of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020.

Graded command structure / Rank structure: Contrary to section (8e and f) of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020, Sir, it is highly disheartening to inform you that the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Board of governance and management team failed to rank or provide graded command structure for the Oyo State Amotekun operatives since year 2020. The over 2000 Amotekun operatives recruited in the year 2020 and the newly recruited in 2022 are rankless and gradeless. Lack of graded command structure is making the Oyo State Amotekun operatives to misbehave within themselves, and even in the present of civilians. This confirm the saying that “where there is no hierarchy, anarchy rules”.

More often than not, the Oyo State Amotekun operatives make use of religion criterion to select participants for any official program at the Corps headquarters, and this create chaos and unhealthy rivalry within the Amotekun operatives in all 33 LGs, the immediate causes of this is that there is no definite criteria in selection of Oyo State Amotekun operatives, the coordinator and admin were just hand-picked, either as result of being an Odua People Congress (OPC) member or a well known taut, this lead to having 90% of Oyo State Amotekun coordinators who can neither read nor write. Sir, let it pleases you as the Oyo State Amotekun Board Chairman to make academic qualifications a definite yard-stick for selecting Oyo State Amotekun operatives for any available post in the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps.

Sir, I am begging for your prompt action in the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps. It would be great in your own tenure, if you can look at issue of academic qualifications and implement this for professionalism to arrive the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps.

To adequately tame the behavior of the Oyo State Amotekun operatives professionally, there is need for you to bring in the Nigeria Police operational manual or adaptation of the Nigeria Police code of conduct and regulations to be used for the Oyo State Amotekun operatives. Since year 2020, the Oyo State Amotekun operatives are just using common sense, which are not even common to the heterogeneous Oyo State Amotekun operatives to guide their actions. The past board of governance and the management team of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps failed woefully to make available a functional operational manual and code of conduct that can guide operatives behavior.

Also, for the Oyo State Amotekun operatives to engender trust and encourage the reporting of crimes, thus contributing to more effective crime fighting and enhancement of justice, safeguarding the fundamental rights of all citizens is required. As a result, I urge you to set up effective Oyo State Amotekun investigation unit (section 22 of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020) to be manned by qualified Amotekun personnel. 

And also there should be establishment of Independent Amotekun Complaints committee (section 23 of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020) All with the effort to give mandate to attend to cases of human rights abuses and other excessive behavior of Amotekun operatives.

It is pertinent to bring to your notice that since year 2020, none of the Oyo State Amotekun operatives were promoted, (section 8 h) and no career progression. Please sir, you may kindly relate with the Ondo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps to confirm some personnel development program that is using to boost the morale of the Ondo State Amotekun operatives. Precisely, June/July 2023 the Ondo State Amotekun operatives were given 3rd phase of promotion. (section 8 (j) of the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020)

The appointment letter that will State terms and conditions of service to facilitate this promotion were not even given to the Oyo State Amotekun operatives. As this contribute to poor working condition experience by the Oyo State Amotekun operatives. 

Some of the Oyo State Amotekun operatives were even dismissed unjustifiably and unlawfully.

Please sir, kindly address the issue of on-going replacement in which only ibadan zones were involved, the other zones are not considered. This makes the Oyo State Amotekun commandant to practice favoritism and nepotism. The fact that Ibadan is the largest and capital of Oyo State cannot adequately denies others there right, going by the principal of federal character, whenever the federal government of Nigeria want to recruit it is done equally, it is only in work force distribution that the areas with high population and high crime rate shall be posted more personnel.

Summarily sir, the members and administrators of maiden board of governance of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps is characterized with favoritism and nepotism, though all of them have been re-appointed except the Chairman who is highly appreciated for his efforts but was antagonized by majority of the Oyo State Amotekun Board members

The erudite Board Chairman of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps, AIG Sikiru Kayode Akande (rtd) Sir, as you can see that the above requests, apart from being essential agent of professionalism in any establishment, all and others that are not mentioned are contained in the Oyo State Security Network Agency Law 2020, which was signed into law by his Excellency Engineer Oluseyi Makinde. With due respect Sir, I pray you, as AIG Sikiru Kayode Akande (rtd) to carefully implement all the recommendations on professionalism accordingly, so as to bring a new Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps to our dearest State of pace-setter.

In conclusion sir, I wish you a successful tenure as the Oyo State Amotekun Board of governance Chairman and pray that God shall lays his hand of repentance on the re-appointed members of the Oyo State Amotekun Board of Governance and the seconded civil servants of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps who I pray for that the spirit and instrument of “divide-and-rule” used in the past shall have no power over them henceforth. 

All members of the Oyo State Amotekun Board of Governance are beseeching to work as a system to let professionalism arrive the administration of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Administration. 

Once again, you are successfully welcome to paddle the canoe of the Oyo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps to the shore of unbeatable professionalism in the Southwest. Accept my hands sake of brilliant performance as the Chairman of the Oyo State Amotekun Board of governance.

Congratulations once again!!!

Yours in Nation building

Segun Adebowale

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