Basit Olokuta

Academic, Historian, Peace Scholar, and President, Osun State University Alumni Association.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

On Friday 31st of May, 2024, I was inaugurated as the President of Uniosun Alumni Association. This is the begining of a two years journey in leadership. Friends, help me pray to God for divine wisdom, strength and grace to lead this association to greatness.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@SimmonsBart Did she crucify you for not having the beef? If not, you don't have to crucify her for not taking your hand!

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@MaryRoseMalomo For Muslims, it's forbidden to shake hands or maintain any form of intimacy with an opposite sex that's not your spouse. However, there is a place of necessity arising from lack of alternatives. Taking a bike together, sitting shoulder to shoulder in a bus etc are part of those.

[Senator Shehu Sani @ShehuSani]

The Benue MACBAN leader was invited for a peace meeting and he voluntarily obliged.On his way home,he was reportedly killed together with his Son.This is a dangerous precedent that does not help the cause of peace.The culprits must be brought to justice.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@egi_nupe Congratulations on your wedding, sir.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@0moyeh @keepee101 Education loan is a standard practice all over the world

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@OfficialAzzaki @atiku No

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@Pressman2040 @slowcoach @d @grok , is this true ?

[ismail omipidan @OmipidanIsmail]

State Police : IGP Disu, take your flowers!

By: Ismail Omipidan

When the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, left office, I gathered that part of the reason he was removed was his reported opposition to the establishment of State Police. At the time, I was hesitant to buy into that narrative, largely because of certain things I knew and the complexity of the issue.

However, with the inauguration of a State Police Committee by the new IGP, Tunji Disu, coming barely days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told lawmakers to consider constitutional amendments to accommodate State Police, I am now more persuaded to believe that narrative. For me, this sequence of events sends a clear signal that President Tinubu is serious about the issue. He appears determined to move beyond rhetoric and push for structural reform in Nigeria’s policing architecture. As someone who has long advocated for State Police, I welcome this development, and Mr President has my unwavering support.

Before the 2015 presidential election, one of the key promises made by the then-opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) was the establishment of a decentralised policing system. They argued that true federalism would guarantee such a structure.

To demonstrate what appeared to be a commitment to that agenda, a committee was set up, chaired by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, with Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi serving as secretary. I was the Political Editor of The Sun at the time and played a role in advocating for the committee’s work. However, what became of the committee's report remains unknown till today.

Sadly, from then till now, it is clear to any discerning Nigerian that our current security architecture does not seem to be working. And that is why some of us are advocating for the establishment of State Police. We must, therefore, end the cycle of pretense by our leaders when it comes to national security. Enough of the endless security summits and talks that rarely produce tangible results.

In 2024, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas convened what he called a dialogue on security. From that gathering, most of the participants were unmistaken in their preference for a state police, insisting that it was the right path forward. The dialogue, which took place just as I was putting finishing touches to my book, 'Persona Non Grata', encouraged me to devote some space to discuss state policing and why I believe it is necessary and desirable. It was my modest attempt to analyse the challenges of our country’s security situation and to offer ideas that could provoke Nigerian leaders to pause, reflect, and consider how best to build a functional and sustainable security architecture. This is why I commend IGP Disu for taking the step to set up the state police committee barely a week after his appointment. Take your flowers! You have earned it.

As a media consultant to the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in the 7th Senate, and as someone who worked very closely with former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, I have followed closely the debate for and against decentralised policing system, and I have come to the inevitable conclusion that state police is what we need, if we are serious about confronting our current and future security challenges frontally.

To help the police and our lawmakers save time, energy and resources on the matter, so as to fast-track the process, I advise them to revisit the report of Ekweremadu's committee, which highlighted key legal and policy provisions that need to be reviewed to aid the establishment of state police.

The Ekwerenadu's committee had explained the need to amend Sections 214 and 215 of the constitution that empower the federal government to exclusively control the police force. It also recommended removing “police” from Item 45 of Part I of the Second Schedule to allow states to establish their own police services under approved guidelines.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@Onsogbu @grok is this real and recent?

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@KafinHausaa @aamalamiSAN @ADCVanguard_ @AminuUngogo01 This man has a case to answer.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@Shaibu_AO @woye1 @tajudine2013gm2 @gsbabatunde @OlayinkaAderon7 @Mayor_ofph @Alpha_Yom @grok how true is this information?

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@theladyjane_ Recycling

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@DramaIsMyAura Appeal

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@NuhuSada0 @AbdullahiAlebo @aiktp_com @akintollgate @BabangidaAhmadS @Bangaje53 @Bollinho0409 @_obidii @abba_hamani They are left out of this obviously. Just the funds with which their school fees are paid is what's called to question

[Foundational Nupe Lawyer @egi_nupe]

You are not just beginning to understand me, you are either closed-minded or I’m saying things that suit your bias. But don’t be too happy, I may soon disappoint you.

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@AsakyGRN Who raised these kinds of girls with this high level of entitlement?

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@MikeArnoldTruth I feel your pain bro. Sorry. 😆

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@FinPlanKaluAja1 A vote that would have been gladly given had Tinubu not declared the State of Emergency

[ismail omipidan @OmipidanIsmail]

Oyetola vs Omisore: There is always a tomorrow

By Ismail Omipidan

I have, for a long time, refrained from intervening in the ongoing roforofo fight between the camps of my former principal, Adegboyega Oyetola, and his now-estranged political ally, Senator Iyiola Omisore. However, after reading certain planted stories now being amplified by Omisore's supporters, I felt compelled to do this intervention. Both parties may not like some of the things I am about to say, but I owe the public the right to know. And if in the end, Omisore’s men choose to come at me from all cylinders, I will take it in good faith. After all, I have taken several bullets for Oyetola in the past, so this one won’t break me.

While the Aregbesola camp may argue that the APC did not need Omisore to win the 2018 governorship re-run election, the facts say otherwise. If what happened did not happen, the party leaders who championed the negotiations at the time would not have run to Omisore. This is despite the fact that some of the negotiators had funded and supported Moshood Adeoti in the ADP to create the very stalemate the APC faced. I will go into the details of all these later, but certainly not in this piece.

Anyway, apart from the ministerial position, every other item that was negotiated was implemented to the letter by Oyetola. He gave out commissionership and SA slots, and he consistently deferred to Omisore on several sensitive matters, often to the displeasure of some of his closest aides. It even got to a point where Aregbesola began referring to Omisore as Oyetola’s new leader.

If Oyetola cannot be credited for anything else, he should at least be acknowledged for saving Omisore from political oblivion. But for Oyetola’s efforts and insistence, there was no way Omisore would have emerged as the APC National Secretary at the time he did. And that single event revived and preserved Omisore’s political career. Till today, some APC elders in the South-West have not forgiven Oyetola for the role he played in Omisore's emergence.

I know some people may argue that Omisore could still have secured the position without Oyetola’s backing, given the support he enjoyed from the late Akeredolu, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and some of Buhari’s men. But the prestige and political weight of home support accorded him would certainly not be there without Oyetola. I was at the convention ground. I saw and knew all that transpired. I was always with Oyetola, in the days leading to that convention, going back and forth to Asiwaju, our now President and Baba Akande's residences. In fact, there are days that we will go there more than thrice in one day, and remain sometimes till 2 am.

For me, I believe we did not see much of Omisore’s influence in the 2022 governorship election results. Many still insist that if Oyetola had not ceded the entire Ile-Ife structure to him, the outcome of the election in that area would have been different. But all that is now history. The point I am making is simple: Oyetola deserves some respect from Omisore and his Rottweilers. Life is not static. As we say in Yoruba, rain dey beat person enter the same house twice o.

I also recall how, under Omisore’s stewardship as National Secretary, the Bayelsa governorship ticket was handed to someone else against the wise counsel of senior party elders. Oyetola was severely tongue-lashed afterward, with some saying, “Ṣé bi eyin le mu wa?” (After all, you are the ones who brought him- Omisore.)

For Oyetola, I strongly advise that he continues to demonstrate maturity in the face of these blackmails, provocations, and intimidations. This too shall pass. Although, I also believe that if Oyetola had confronted Omisore earlier and advised him against putting his hat in the ring in the first place, perhaps what we are witnessing today might have been avoided. But could he really have stopped him from pursuing his ambition?

[Basit Olokuta @Im_mr_courage]

@Afonjaslayer01 This mumu has changed his name again ?