Insecurity In Nigeria: We Will Still Embrace State Police – Olumuyiwa Jimoh

A panacea has been offered to the spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
A lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Olumuyiwa Jimoh said in an interview that Nigerian security would get better if the nation embraces state police.
The lawmaker, representing Apapa Constituency 2 in the Assembly speaks on Nigerian democracy, security and other matters of interest.

How would you react to our democracy in Nigeria so far

Apparently, you don’t expect democracy to work in a day. Those you are comparing Nigerian democracy with have been practising it for over 100 years. Our democracy is less than 20 years old, so we are still evolving. Our current democratic dispensation in Nigeria began in 199, and it is still young. 50 or 100 years is small in the life of a nation unlike that of an individual. You will agree with me that this is not where we were in 1999. The essence of democracy is to get input from people. When we were in secondary schools, it was only students that were protesting. Now, you see a lot of parents and people protesting to the state house of assembly over issues. That is part of democratic process, but people expect it to get to the peak within a short time. We have have left Egypt, but we are not yet in Jerusalem. Our democracy has taken off, but we are not yet there. The human society also has not reached an eldorado, we have not got to where we are. It is a process because we are dealing with human beings.

What can you say about the state of security in the country?

There is insecurity all over the world generally, the fear of what to eat and drink is now the beginning of wisdom. The emergence of all terrorist groups is a result of one nation trying to dominate another. The essence of governance generally is to provide security and welfare for the people. So, the issue of security has to be taken seriously. It has to be taken systematically by the government.

Would you now say governance is where it ought to be in Nigeria now

I am not talking of the expectation of the government, but I agree that we are not where we should be, we are progressing arithmetically.

Are we not moving towards having state police as people are postulating with the way people are being attacked or killed all over the placr

It will be difficult to bring a Jukun man to come and police my community in Lagos, for instance. He has to map out strategy to be able to do that. But it would be easy for someone from this community to police the area because he is from the same community. State police is inevitable, it is a matter of time. That is why I want to encourage the Lagos State Government to continue with the way they have been challenging the Federal Government on the issue of waterways. We won the case at the State High Court though the Federal Government won at the Appeal Court. How can the Federal Government be controlling the waterways. Two major robberies in Lagos State came in through the waterways; the one in Ikorodu and the other one in Lekki because the waterways are porous. The battle between the Lagos State and Federal Governments makes our waterways more porous. We have secured the land. With that you can make a comparison. Eventually, we are going to have state police because a thesis gives birth to antithesis and antithesis would give birth to synthesis, which will determine what will happen.

What would be your advice the Federal Government as we are moving towards another election

What do you want me to advise the Federal Government, you should consider when the government took off. Compare what they met on ground and what is on ground now. Government is a serious matter. A lot of people would say so many things before they get to office only to do a different thing, when they get there. I am not holding brief for anybody, but when you see the systematic way the President and the Federal Government have been doing things, you would see that a lot of things have been achieved. People just want things to happen just like that. When I was younger, I thought things would happen just like that, but when I grew up, I discovered that human society is far from eldorado. Problem is like a plant, it has root, we have to solve it from the root.

With what happened at the National Assembly, stealing of mace and others, what would be your advice to the National legislators

Yes, there was an issue, the mace was taken away by some thugs or whatever you may call it and it has been recovered. That is very wrong, those who did that are not cultured, they are not civilised to democratic norms. However, it is democracy, majority still have their ways, the senator concerned has been suspended, he might spend the rest of his term at home. What gave birth to democracy itself is agitation, we have to continue until we get the Nigeria of our dream. Everything will not be smooth on one day, even God did not create the world on one day. He has power to do it on one day, but he didn’t do that. Then, he rested on the 7th day.

What would be your reaction to the statement by President Muhammadu Buhari in London that Nigerian youths are lazy?

Well, it is difficult saying this, but that is the truth, some of our youths are lazy. We are in government, we know some of our constituents that we got work for, who are not ready to work. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo said in 1974 that some Nigerian youths are lazy and that eight hours are enough for anybody to sleep out of 24 hours. He said that some time should be dedicated to reading. There is a saying in Europe that if you want to hide anything from Africans put it in a book. Don’t look at the messenger, look at the message. Just let us do a personal assessment of ourselves. The youths should be serious and read wide.

What would be your reaction to the issue of electricity in Nigeria

I am not satisfied with the current situation, but it is better than before. There was a time we would not have electricity in Apapa for six months, but it is better now. We are not where we ought to be, for instance in South Africa, they have electricity constantly such that they can afford to export it to other countries. But we don’t even have sufficient electricity. The military intervention also added to our problems. They mismanaged the country. Now, democracy make things better such that a serving Inspector General was challenged by his surbodinate.

What can you say about the Nigerian workers as we are celebrating May Day. We also want you to talk about your reelection in 2019

The Nigerian workers are trying, May 1st is dedicated to them and the Federal Government has declared the day a Public Holiday. Their average take home cannot take anybody home, so the government should increase their pay. But it goes beyond salary increment, the government should think of accommodation, healthcare, insurance, housing and all that because inflation would set in as soon as this is done.
On Yah Wahab, it is a name of God. I am fortunate to be given one of the 99 names of God and the lieutenants decided to give me the name. We have had more lieutenants and they feel the slogan would be okay for my electioneering campaign.