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Operation Amotekun Is Welcome In Nigeria – Pastor Bakare Declares

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Bakare backs Amotekun
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Pastor Bakare Backs Amotekun

Founder of the Citadel Global Community Church formerly known as The Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has declared total support for Operation Amotekun.

The fiery cleric made his stand known while speaking at the service which took place at the church on Akilo Road, Lagos on Sunday.

He read through the speech titled: “Amotekun is commendable, however, no amount of ringworm medicine can cure leprosy,” noting that government at all levels in Nigeria need to focus more on job creation for the youths as a way to combat insecurity in the country.

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Naija News recalls Operation Amotekun is the codename for the regional security outfit established by South-West governors to tackle insecurity in the area.

It was previously declared illegal by Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice but the federal government and the affected state governors have eventually reached a compromise on the mode of operation for the Amotekun outfit.

Adding his voice, Pastor Bakare said it was time Nigeria candidly address its growing contentious national questions of constitutionalism and nationhood at the table of brotherhood rather than continue to sweep them under the carpet.

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He added that the setting up of Amotekun unveils the failure of the government to deal with issues of insecurity in the country.

“At the commencement of another decade, the contentious constitutional question that once more beckons on us to examine the foundations of our nationhood relates to the newly instituted Western Nigeria Security Network, code-named ‘Operation Amotekun.’

“The proponents of Amotekun, particularly in the South, justify the move by referencing the Sharia police or Hisbah as a northern version of regional policing. The opponents, on the other hand, particularly from the North, express fears of possible regional political motivations. These are clear indications that the issues we swept under the carpet in past decades are still staring us in the face. We cannot continue to hide under the umbrella of one finger. It is time to address the underlying issues of nationhood and reset Nigeria on the path to predictable progress,” he said.

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“While looking upwards with unwavering faith in our divinely ordained destiny as one strong, united nation, with a strong federal government and strong federating units; a nation in which government as an entity is close enough to serve the people and strong enough to protect them.”

He also slammed managers of the nation’s security infrastructure as being responsible through their failures for the calls for extra regional security outfits in Nigeria.

“We must not lose sight of the main issue in the ‘Operation Amotekun’ debate, which is that the current mono-level security architecture has proved inadequate to combat the security challenges that confront not just the South-West but every zone in our nation– security challenges such as kidnapping, herdsmen attacks, cattle rustling, terrorism and the porosity of our borders,” he said.

Pastor Bakare called on the government to focus on job creation and economic welfare of the citizens as a way to surmount insecurity issues in Nigeria.

“Good as the Amotekun Security outfit and similar initiatives across the nation are, we will have fewer security challenges when government at all levels focuses urgent attention on job creation for the massive army of jobless youths in our nation.

“Youth joblessness is the breeding ground for the various forms of crime that have bedevilled our land. Evidently, ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop.’ Even our present constitution, flawed as it is, stipulates that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’

“Consequently, we cannot prioritise the security of the citizens above the welfare of the citizens; the two must go hand in hand. When that happens, the crime rate will drastically drop as our youths across the length and breadth of the federation are gainfully employed or helped to become job creators themselves,” the cleric argued.