By Oreoluwa Abiodun

To the man who only has a hammer (in his tool-kit), everything he encounters begins to look like a nail” (Abraham Maslow). Nothing better captions the shameful rush of the PDP-led Government of Kwara State to suspend the Chairmen of Offa and Oyun Local Government Councils in the wake of recent communal clashes between Offa and Erin-Ile (in Oyun LG). For the PDP-led government of the day, the crises offered a perfect smokescreen to justify the removal of the Chairman of Offa LG Council whom they have been scheming to unseat since his inception of office. It will sadden any genuine stakeholder to note that while the people of Offa and Erin-Ile are still reeling in the agony of losing their loved ones as well as properties worth millions of naira to the unfortunate incident; while genuine stakeholders are still ruminating over causes of the fracas (both immediate and remote) with a view to finding a lasting solution to the long-standing rift between these two ancient communities, the Saraki-tutored Government of Kwara State is busy carting away the 'spoils of war' by taking over the only non-PDP controlled LG in the State. This ill-timed action of the State Government reeks of hypocrisy and gross insensitivity to the plights of our people. 

No sincere arbitrator who is passionate about restoring peace and tranquility between two warring communities would start his reconciliation effort by flagrantly insulting the sensibilities of one or both of the parties as has been done by the Kwara State government. The State government need not aggravate the quandary of our already traumatized people before calm is returned to our land.

I consider the suspension of the Offa LG Council Chairman as a bait to precipitate anger among our people whose resolute support for their now ousted Council Chairman has been a major hurdle which has defied several evil machinations of the State Government to upstage the Offa LG Chairman from Office. And I am very happy that the peace-loving people of Offa did not fall for the bait. Indeed, they have conducted themselves in the best possible manner in the present circumstances. Had they fallen for the bait, the Chief Security Officer of the State himself would have succeeded in plunging us back into chaos. And since for them, every chaotic situation presents an opportunity to tamper with the people's mandate, our people are better advised to follow them with great caution going forward.

The State Government, in its futile bid to disguise their capricious action as balanced and fair to both parties, decided to also sacrifice the democratically-elected Chairman of Oyun LG Council replacing him with an autocratically-imposed administrator as they did to his Offa LG counterpart who is their main target in the plot. Either way, it amounts to insensitive and unfair denial of the electorates the services of their trusted elected leaders. Such uncivilized use of executive fiat for political gains like this remains one of the strongest arguments against the establishment of State Police in Nigeria. One is moved to think that if the State Governors were to have full control of the Police at the State level, the victimized LG bosses may not have only been dislodged from office, they may have ended up in the State government's gulag. 

While announcing the suspension of the LG Chairmen, Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Gold said that "the Chairmen of Oyun and Offa local government councils, as Chief Security Officers of their respective councils, failed to protect the welfare of the people and maintain public order in both communities" (Ilorin Info). When they realized (within 48 hours of the initial announcement) that the thoughtless statement amounts to passing of bulk of ineptitude of the State Government to the vulnerable LG Chairmen, the Governor came up with a different reason for their suspension. This time, he said the suspension was due to "their inability to manage the (motor) parks in their LG Areas which are largely guided at bye-laws at the LG level…". If we reduce the argument to their level, we would then be right to ask the the State government why it did not step-in in good time to avert the unfortunate clash since the State's security apparatuses are closer to being under their control than they are to the LG Chairmen (if at all they are)? If the action the State Government is seen as justifiable in any quarters, then the Governor himself who is Chief Security Officer of the State should be suspended for lacking in proactive action to which he's now laying claim after the damage had already been done.

There is no denying the fact that there has always been some cynicism between the people of these communities but, it has not resulted in open/ violent confrontation for about three decades now. However, in the last few years, the attitude of the State Government towards Offa LG as a lone progressive and non-PDP apologist community in the State may have been misread by the people of Erin-Ile community as a subtle support for Offa's adversaries. And the State Government, by the lop-sidedness of its recent actions, has only reinforced our believe that it is not to be trusted as a genuine arbitrator in the present circumstance. May be it is time to call on President Jonathan to also suspend the Governor of Kwara State for not nipping the Offa/ Erin-Ile clash in the bud as the Chief Security Officer of the State? The premises for his own suspension would be better justified and may include: why did he not impose the curfew when tension was still brewing between the two communities before it resulted in violent clash? Or why do the LG Chairmen have to go when they have not been implicated in the crises while the failed Chief Security Officer of the State remains in office? 

A more civilized State government would have waited for the report of the Judicial commission of inquiry which it has just sworn-in before handing judgement to some people. The action of the State government is pre-emptive of the eventual submission of the Judicial commission inquiry whose terms of reference includes identifying culprits and recommending punishments. This leaves our people in doubt as to the sincerity of purpose of the commission on the one hand, and of the State government on the other.

I therefore call on the Kwara State House of Assembly, the traditional rulers in the State, and all well-meaning indigenes of the State, and progressives across the Nigeria to prevail on the Kwara State Government to rescind its decision on the suspension of the LG bosses which amounts to a blatant disregard for the sacredness of the mandates which these gentlemen have to lead their people in a democratic setting. and more importantly to assure the people of their sincerity in finding a lasting solution to the Offa/ Erin-Ile perennial disputes.