The Emir of Ilesha Baruba, Professor Halidu Abubakar, in this interview with Weekend Trust raised concerns over the rising insecurity in Kwara North, warning that neglecting traditional institutions in the fight against banditry is undermining efforts to restore peace.
What is your view of the insecurity plaguing Kwara?
I don’t think there is any more magic than to intensify the military option we have now and a lot of intelligence initiatives. But most importantly, I think traditional rulers and institutions have not been utilized enough. We have ideas on how these things can be curtailed, but there is no formal way of letting them out. We only read or hear in the news that certain things are being done. I don’t think the involvement of traditional rulers is formalised. It is better that it should be fought from the grassroots and the initiatives should come from the grassroots. I know it’s not an easy task but something can be done to surmount it. We know our people and the terrain and if we are formally involved, I am sure a lot of things will change for the better.
Have there been discussions towards formalising the involvement of traditional rulers?
Ah. well, I don’t think we have been involved to that extent of asking us what should be done or our views. Particularly in Kwara North, the Emirs play a key role and are highly respected to a large extent. Traditional rulership has been fully institutionalised in our community over centuries. Government should listen and support us because we are willing to support the government.
Are you of the view that there should be a permanent military base inside the hibernated forest?
But for how long will this be done? Of course, the existence of the vast forest unchecked over the years has brought about this. But can we keep army detachments all over the vast land of Kwara North and South? Most importantly, the combined efforts of the army, police, and Air Force should strike the areas most conducive for these bandits to operate. It’s not all the places that have conducive atmosphere for them. We cannot have army formations in all the forests.
There have been talks that some traditional rulers are also aiding these bandits
Well, we are all individuals and you cannot rule out some unscrupulous persons, but not from our own end here. But it will be unfortunate for a traditional ruler to cooperate with bandits against his people. Some village or ward heads can claim to be traditional rulers, but that is a different thing. Any recognised traditional ruler here cooperating with bandits, what are they going to give us? Though I am not saying its impossible.
How have you handled the informants within your domain?
We have them and many of them reside in our community. Here in Ilesha Baruba, we have a very large Kara market that attracts Fulanis and all sorts of people every time. Just this afternoon, we were discussing how to curtail the movement of these people, but it’s going to be really difficult when you have such a market with inlets and outlets all over the place. So, these same informants can have their own organisation living amongst us and working for the bandits.
We have varying postulations on how Kwara got to this point. What is your view on this?
Honestly, this is very unfortunate and not something that one can really say. In Nigeria, something begins somewhere and it catches on like a wildfire, especially with so much money involved and the realisation that our security apparatus is weak, which encourages them. And so even some Fulanis are tempted. Many young Fulanis have reached a stage that they don’t have any cattle, which is their wealth and what they live for. So, the next thing is to go into vices. But it’s difficult to pinpoint one particular reason. This is an explosion of what has been building up for a long time. Today, we have a lot of jobless people who don’t have any wealth or cattle again.
Some traditional rulers have fled their domains because of banditry. Have we reached that level in Kwara North?
No, and I pray we don’t. Here we pray about these things that it never happens here. Though there are pockets of kidnappings here and there, it has not gotten to that level here in Ilesha Baruba.
How do you view the issue vis-à-vis the development of Kwara North?
It has slowed us down because they have scared investors away. Two of them that wanted to set up factories here have left since the issue started in Kwara North. Also, we have a campus of the Kwara State University (KWASU) here that is supposed to have resumed academic activities but keeps being postponed because of the insecurity, despite the advantages of having a campus here. Part of it also has to do with our development. My district here is larger than many of the local governments elsewhere. Though we allow people to settle and farm, there are lots of areas where there are no settlements.
Some have accused traditional rulers of not doing due diligence before accommodating people. How do you react to this?
This has contributed and is still contributing. But we have stopped accommodating people in many of our communities here and we make sure anybody who comes in without a particular reason is sent back. There are many cases that we have dealt with, even with people in vehicles. Realistically, though, it’s sometimes difficult because we have a Kara market and there are limitations to how much we can do on that. One problem is the lease of uncompleted buildings to people who later avail it to a lot of their people. But it has been very challenging monitoring the inflow and outflow of people, especially in a community like ours. But we try to tell the Fulani and Hausa communities to inform us if they have strangers.