By joshua 
From Ralph Omololu Agbana, Lokoja
Lagos based Management Consultancy guru and Asiwaju of Odo-Eri
Land, Kogi State, Chief Funsho Davies Owoyemi has described the presence
of the military Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Egbe, Kogi State, as
timely and indeed a giant step towards boosting the local security
architecture and efforts of security agencies in combating banditry,
kidnapping and other forms of criminalities in the area. He expressed
optimism that the base would assist in mitigating the challenges posed
by the influx of criminally minded people, especially the bandits who
currently constitute a torn in the flesh of the people of Okunland and
their neighbours.
The newly constructed and furnished Military Forward Operating Base
located on the outskirts of Egbe, Yagba West Local Council, Kogi State
comprising a 94-bed Twin Hostels, office and residence of the Commander of the Base, officers mess, two brand new Hilux Vans and other utilities, was built by the Senator
representing Kogi West Senatorial Zone, Distinguished Senator Sunday
Karimi, to assist security agencies in combating banditry and
kidnapping and other vices, particularly in the forests around the
Kwara-Kogi-Ekiti-Niger States borders. The facility was officially handed
over to the Nigerian Army last weekend during the occasion of Egbe
Unity Day.
Otunba Funsho Owoyemi, a respected elder in Okunland, spearheaded the defunct Okun New Initiative (ONI). In the mid-1990s,
ONI was a convergence of prominent and influential Okun sons and
daughters from all callings with the sole aim of attracting development
to the politically marginalized Okun area, through the deployment of
individual resources and collective connections, within government
and the private sector.
Speaking with journalists from his Lagos base on Friday, he
commended Senator Karimi for the “wonderful initiative”, noting that,
the establishment of the FOB “will serve to bring safety relief for our people and neighbours in Kwara, Kogi and Ekiti States; most especially
travellers and farmers”. He urged the Nigerian Army to promptly and
effectively utilize the facility by immediate take-over of the facility and
the deployment of personnel and equipment.
This, he stressed, would allow the soldiers take firm control of the
security of the area. He also called for collaborative efforts and synergy
between the governments of the three states, security agencies,
traditional rulers and citizens for effective multiplier benifits of the FOB,
saying “Security is our collective responsibility. It is everybody’s
business”.
Asiwaju Owoyemi conveyed the collective delight of the Okun country
to the development and praised Senator Sunday Karimi’s “laudable
and exemplary effort”. He described the FOB as “heartening,” going by
the several years experience of cries about how bandits, kidnappers
and Fulani herdsmen have made life unbearable for residents, farmers
and travellers in the area.
The situation has badly impacted the agrarian economy of the people,
escalating food security crisis. State and local government employees
who work as teachers, agriculturists, among others vocations, have
had to bank outside their domains, with attendant risks and
inconveniences, due to the sack of existing banks by deadly armed
robbers who have repeatedly attacked banks forcing them to almost
a permanent closure of the “shops”.