Gabriel Dike
A foremost traditional ruler and Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, has called on the Federal Government to end herdsmen killings in the country.
The Awujale made the call at the second annual professorial lecture on ‘Civil Society and Governance in Nigeria’s Evolving Democracy which held in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, yesterday.
Oba Adetona also urged security agencies to tackle cases of armed robbery, thuggery and kidnapping currently ravaging the country.
He said before colonial rule, traditional rulers were in control of governance and welfare of the people, adding that even when the colonial master came, they recognised their roles as custodian of the people.
The monarch lamented that since the politicians took over in 1999, traditional rulers have been sidelined.
He advised governments, at all levels, to always consult traditional rulers on policy formulation, stressing that beneficiaries of the policies are the monarchs’ subjects.
On his part, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, said the institution of the chair will promote good governance as well as quality academic research in Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU).
Amosun, represented by his deputy, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, admitted that this year’s lecture brought to the fore the role civil society played in the nation’s quest for good governance since 1999.
Delivering the lecture, Prof. Ayodele Olukotun of OOU’s Department of Political Science, said civil society in Nigeria is not dead but, obviously, in a state of stupor which requires re-awakening.
The don, who reacted to Prof. Itse Sagay’s statement that civil society is dead, said: “Civil society must assert itself more daringly than ever before, in a public sphere with a view to pushing more the frontiers of the struggle against impunity and democratic consolidation.
“Undoubtedly, civil society can no longer be the informal parliament or opposition which it was under the military, giving that many society activists are now members of political parties and obviously reflect partisan, rather than society’s wide perspectives.
“Civil society, as, indeed, any organisation, cannot be cherished if it fails to speak to the anguish and woes of a blighted citizenry, in a country where the political class has gone gaga with stupendous cornering of the nation’s resources.
“I don’t think civil society is dead, but, it is obviously in a state of stupor, and requires re-awakening.”
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