Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the killing by herdsmen constitutes veritable threats to national security.
The governor urged security agencies to end the menace.
Aregbesola delivered an address, titled: African Knowledges and Alternative Futures, at an event to honour a professor of African History at the University of Texas, Houston, United States of America (USA), Prof Toyin Falola, on his 65th birthday.
The event, chaired by Prof Jide Owoeye, proprietor of Lead City University in Ibadan, was also attended by scholars from different parts of Nigeria and other countries.
Some of the dignitaries include the President of Historical Society of Nigeria, Prof Chris Ogbogbo, and Prof. Gloria Emeagwali, a professor of History and African Studies at Central Connecticut State University in USA, who delivered keynote addresses.
Aregbesola said: “It is condemnable and it is hereby condemned very strongly. The taking of human lives, especially of unarmed innocent people, who are not in any state of war, is unjustifiable, cruel and should not be tolerated in any civilised society.
“As a people, we need to tread carefully here on the killings by the herdsmen across the country. As bad and reprehensible as they are, they are not as deadly as the Nigerian Civil War we fought between 1967 and 1970.
“So, I condemn the herdsmen atrocities. We must go beyond that to situate what will be our reaction and response as a people and a nation. However, I am joining other well-meaning people in calling on the security agencies to bring an end to the wittiness of this act.
“The cardinal duty of the government is the protection of lives and property. Every life is sacred and the government should keep it so. Those who are engaged in this barbarous act should be hunted to the end of the earth, apprehended, tried and made to serve the full deed of the law. That should be our demand.
“We should demand the apprehension of the criminals who torment the compatriots, and adequate judicial action should be taken against them. That is the only way we can tell Nigerians that their safety is guaranteed by the law and the government.”
The governor cautioned against actions that could set the nation on fire.
He noted that no nation or society can progress without peace.
Aregbesola said: “This calls for all of us to be more reflective on issues… What we see in Syria, Yemen, what we are seeing in Sierra-Leone, and what we are seeing in Nigeria, makes it clear to us that peace is the only way to progress.
“However, in the interest of black people of the world, Nigeria must not just exist. In the interest of the black race, Nigeria must not just exist but it must be strong and must be able to lead the continent to achieve its manifest, its historic destiny. That is why we must be careful in responding to some of these actions.”
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Olalekan Alli, said his administration believed in knowledge-driven government and governance as upheld by Falola.
He added that the present Oyo State government would continue to place priority on knowledge-driven governance.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, who was the royal father of the day, stressed the importance of education for Nigeria and African countries in overcoming socio-economic and political challenges.
He said: “The Nigerian case calls for the intellectual input of the Yoruba to re-define the nature and pattern of relationship among the diverse and seemingly disparate ethnic groups or nations in Nigeria.
“Scholars should lead other stakeholders and segments of society to provide intellectual response to restructuring the Nigerian federation. The African academia and intelligentsia should not concede leadership in this enterprise to indolent politicians and self-appointed opinion leaders whose stock in trade is soapbox grandstanding and parliamentary rhetoric.
“Our claim to bring educated will only be meaningful, if we acquire knowledge, internalise its values and appropriate wisdom therefrom for finding solutions to the twin problems of underdevelopment and state collapse.”
Orangun of Oke-Ila Oba Adedokun Abolarin said the essence of education was to serve others in achieving intellectual development.
