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By: Emmanuel Omotayo Johnson
E-mail: oluwadamipe7@gmail.com

‘Operation Amotekun’ (The Leopard) is a security initiative formed by a coalition of the six State Governors of the South-West Nigerian states to battle insecurity and other crimes in that region. Notwithstanding the good intentions of this movement, it has come under some intense scathing. The Operation has soon hit the rock when the Federal Government of Nigeria on 14th January 2020, branded it as unconstitutional and therefore ‘illegal’. It is in view of the foregoing, that this article will serve as a two-edged sword in an attempt to consider the loopholes or shortcomings in the formation of the ‘Operation Amotekun’ (if any) that made it to be declared ‘illegal’, and a s a panacea; the article finally argues that the branding of Operation Amotekun as ‘illegal’ by the Attorney General of the Federation is more of a directory to the parties concerned to follow due process in setting up the security outfit, and to this end this article examines how the technicalities surrounding the case can be exploited to get the security outfit overcome the illegal tag and become operational once again.

Key Words: ‘Operation Amotekun’, Insecurity, Federal Government of Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION
As the incidences threatening the security of the nation remains prevalent, predominantly in the Northern region of the country, in recent times, there has been an upscale trend of insecurity in the opposite region too. The South-West region of the country became notoriously hit last year (2019) with widespread insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, wanton destruction of lives and property by assailants.
In fulfillment of their constitutional prerogative of security and welfare of their people, and in exigent response to the upsurge in criminal activities in the region, the governors of the six South-West states of the Federation at the regional security summit held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on June 2019 through Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission (DAWN) agreed to set up a security network to assist and consolidate the security agencies in the region. Hence, the birth of ‘Operation Amotekun’ as a regional security network
The Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ (The Leopard), is a security outfit established on January 9, 2020 by the six State Governors of all the South-Western State of the Federation of Nigeria, namely; Lagos State, Oyo State, Ogun State, Ondo State, Osun State and Ekiti State. With its headquarters situate in Ibadan, Oyo State, and operational base in Gbongan, Osun State, it records as the first regional security outfit initiated by a geopolitical zone in Nigeria.
The operatives of the security outfit will assist the police, other security agencies and traditional rulers in combating terrorism, banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping etc, and also in settling herdsmen and farmers contentions in the region. For the startup, the security outfit already boasts of over 1,320 operatives recruited by the trio of Lagos, Osun and Ekiti State.
Since its launch, the ‘Operation Amotekun’ has generated brobdingnagian reactions of mixed feelings from the masses. While the governors have been lauded from almost every quarter of the region for the forward-thinking initiative, there has been relative measure of condemnations and, indeed, rejection of the whole idea, particularly from persons and groups of the opposite region.
THE CHALLENGE
On 13 January, 2020, the Nigerian Police warned that they will arrest any operative of the outfit that carries illegal arms.
Perhaps the most daunting challenged soon faced by the ‘Operation Amotekun’ is the ‘illegal’ stamp labeled on it by the Federal Government of Nigeria. On 14 January, 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, opposed the establishment of ‘Operation Amotekun’ by the South-West states, branding it as an illegal institution, on the premise that it is not backed by the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as altered). A statement by the Attorney General of the Federation reads:
“The setting up of the paramilitary organization called Amotekun is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.
“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) has established the army, navy and air force, including the police and other numerous paramilitary organizations for the purpose of the defence of Nigeria.
“As a consequence of this, no state government, whether singly or in group has the legal right and competence to establish any form of organization or agency for the defence of Nigeria or any of its constituent parts.
“This is sanctioned by the provision of Item 45 of the Second Schedule of the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (as amended) authorizing the police and other Federal Government security services established by law to maintain law and order”.
The declaration made by the Federal Government of Nigeria on ‘Operation Amotekun’ as illegal as soon precipitate a growing fuss in the country. People from varying levels of the country, experts and non-experts, particularly the faithfuls of the initiative have exploited various media to vent their dissidence about the declaration.

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THE ARGUMENTS
It has been widely argued by many and perhaps the same basis for the stance of the federal government on the Amotekun outfit, that it is in the exclusive powers of the Federal Government of Nigeria to defend the security of Nigeria pursuant to the provision of Item 17 of the II Schedule on the Exclusive Legislative List in the Nigerian constitution 1999 (as altered). Contrary to this erroneous opinion, let me set the record straight that, Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as altered) directs that: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, which, in a federal state like Nigeria, is a conflation of the Federal, State, and Local Governments.
Abubakar Malami missed it when he confused the protection of Nigeria against external aggression, the schedule of the armed forces with the President as Commander-in-Chief, with safety of lives and property of residents within Nigeria’s borders.
Those who contest that the State Governments lacks jurisdiction over security matters perhaps advertently or inadvertently overlooked the provision of Section 11(1)(2) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as altered) that: “The National Assembly may make laws for the federation or any part thereof with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order…” and “Nothing in this section shall preclude a (State) House of Assembly from making laws with respect to the matter referred to in this section…”
It has also been argued that the creation of the South-West Governors’ Forum is unconstitutional, this is on the premise that the Constitution did not make any provision for such regional body. This argument is shallow and can be easily knocked off on the basis that Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as altered) has entitled every person to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests.
The borderline of the argument so far canvassed is that State Governors (as the Chief Security Officer) of his respective state has the constitutional powers to devise whatever means possible to ensure the maintenance and security of life and properties within his jurisdiction. Although, this must be achieved only through the mechanism of an ‘enabling law’.

THE SHORTCOMINGS
While it is a commendable initiative by the six South-West Governors to set up a security network to consolidate the police and other security agencies in the battle against the prevailing insecurity in the region, the process is not without some derelicts.
It is a popular saying that, what is worth doing is worth doing well. The Nigerian Constitution which is the grundnorm and modus operandi of all affairs in the country is unequivocal about the requirements necessary for a state governor to act as the Chief Security Officer of his state.
The fundamental shortcoming of ‘Operation Amotekun’ is that it is not established under an enabling law. Rather, the governors chose to establish the outfit acting solely on the unanimous agreement made at their Governors’ Forum.
What is an ‘Enabling Law’? An enabling law is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it the power to take certain actions. It is the piece of legislation that establishes and defines the constitution, powers and liabilities etc., of a government agency.
The Lagos State Neighbourhood Security Corps (LSNC) is a viable example of an ancillary security outfit created by an enabling law i.e., the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency Law of 2016.
A recent report claims that all the six state governors contributed 20 vehicles, and 100 units of motorcycles each in support of the operation. While over 1,320 operatives have been recruited by the trio of Lagos, Osun and Ekiti State. All of these facts pose the question of: “where does the financing of ‘Operation Amotekun’ come from?”

THE WAY FORWARD
While some quarters have heavily resented the stance of the federal government on ‘Operation Amotekun’ as being ethnically biased, some other have urged the stakeholders to challenge the federal government in court over the constitutionality or otherwise of the security outfit. While this writer hopes that the position of the federal government on ‘Operation Amotekun’ is in the upmost spirit of constitutionalism that eschews any modicum of ethnical segregation or bias, he does not believe that testing the legality of ‘Operation Amotekun’ in the court of law will be a wise step in the battle for its survival.
It is the view of this writer that, the embargo placed on the ‘Operation Amotekun’ by the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not of an absolute nature rather, it is more of a direction to its stakeholders to do the ‘needful’ – as provided in the Section 11(2) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as altered).
Operation Amotekun will only maintain the force of a legal security agency until there is a law establishing it. The law would amongst other things make provision for its financing, administration, rights and liabilities etc.
It will be difficult if not impossible for the six state governors to pass a law creating ‘Operation Amotekun’ as a unit. Therefore, individual governors must go to his respective House of Assembly and push for a Bill on “operation Amotekun’ to be passed into law. And for the purpose of maintaining its interregional flavour, there should be a provision in the law that permits its amalgamation or coalition with other states within the South-West region.
CONCLUSION
Generally speaking, the traditional approach of ‘State Security’ that mainly regards the State as the sole referent object of security and refutes any attempt to broaden the concept of security has long been criticized and is soon paving way to developing trends such as societal security, and human security.
Moving the security agenda beyond state security does not mean replacing it but rather involves complementing and building on it. The state remains a central provider of security, but state security is not a sufficient condition for human welfare.

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Emmanuel Omotayo Johnson*[1]

Abstract

As at the time of Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the maritime industry was largely undeveloped. Then, the country only had two major sea ports which were in Lagos and Port Harcourt. To a greater extent, these ports were inadequate to handle large volume of maritime activities.[2] Some of the problems faced with the sector were, the lack of indigenous manpower to effectively manage the industry, and the absence of indigenous shipping companies in control of significant share of commercial activities in the industry. However, the aforementioned had soon become a story of the past.

The Nigerian maritime industry over the past decades has transcended into one of the leading industries in the Nigeria economic terrain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potentials of the maritime sector as a prospective frontier for the much needed upgrade of the Nigerian economy, particularly, through the “Blue Economy” agenda of the sector, and the role of the government in achieving this end.

Introduction

Nigeria is a middle-income, emerging market with expanding manufacturing, financial, service, communications, technology and entertainment industry.[3] It has a GDP growth of curve of -1.6%, 0.8%, 1.9% and 2.1% between years 2016-2019.[4] As at the year 2018, her unemployment rate stands at 23.1% (Q3 2018)[5] and inflation (CPI) drop rate of 11.4% as at 2018.[6] All of these facts and figures only point to one thing – need for (urgent) diversification of the economy.

Despite her abundant resources, Nigeria is poorer today than it was at independence in 1960. This deplorable condition can be summarized to two major factors; the corruption and mismanagement of its resources by the government, and the overdependence on the wealth derived from crude oil.

The dependence on oil resources as the major source of economy and foreign exchange earnings by the government has done little to reverse widespread poverty[7] and the collapse of basic infrastructure and social services in the country. Following the collapse of crude oil prices in 2018, which triggered unpleasant memories of the 2014 and 2015 crash in world oil prices, the Nigerian government found itself in unchartered waters. It continues to struggle to revive the economy amidst dwindling oil revenues compounded by unemployment, poverty and insurgency.[8]

It is high time that the government looked inward for other avenues to generate wealth necessary to boost and sustain the economy. One of which is the maritime sector.

The Potentials of the Maritime Sector as a Frontier to the Nigerian Economy

Nigeria, located on the coastline corridors of the Gulf of Guinea and the Bight of Benin, is blessed with a natural maritime endowment base comprising of coastline of over 850kms, an exclusive economic zone of over 200 nautical miles, a vast inland waterways resource estimated at nearly 4,000kms, capable of supporting a vibrant intra-regional trade. With Nigeria’s total annual freight cost, estimated at between 5 billion dollars and 6 billion dollars annually, there is no doubt that shipping is of great importance to the Nigerian economy;[9] a readymade industry, full of potentials begging the attention of the government.

With a prospect to generate over 8 billion dollars of revenue yearly,[10] the maritime sector no doubt has the potentials to propel the desired growth in the nation’s economy. Commenting on this fact, a media guru, and former General Manager, Lagos Traffic Radio, Mr. Layinka Adagun, observed:

“The oil industry has always been seen as the nation’s major revenue earner, but this sector lags behind the maritime industry that has earned its pre-eminence in Nigerian economy since the pre-colonial era… the strategic importance of the Nigerian maritime sector to the growth and stability of the nation’s economy is attested to by its value in the upstream sector of the oil industry. This is further stressed by the ministry of transport, which estimated a total of about 8 billion dollars freight cost yearly for the industry”[11].

Unfortunately, the government in her myopic nature has inadvertently failed to unlock the untapped wealth of maritime, which is attributable to their lack of focus on the sector. Reflecting on this fact, Kunle Folarin (Chairman, Ports Consultative Council), called for greater cooperation among government agencies to ensure a viable and competitive maritime sector.[12]

The prospect of the “Blue Economy” agenda under the auspices of the maritime industry is another viable potential of the maritime industry as the fulcrum to a sustainable economy. An agenda that has the capacity to generate wealth from exploitation of other maritime subsectors/components.

Discussing the “Blue Economy” concept, The Director General of NIMASA[13] Dr. Dankoko Peterside related:

“The call for economic diversification in Nigeria is a national consensus… the blue economy deals with the totality of all economic activity associated with the oceans, seas, harbors, aquaculture, biomedicine… in other words the application and exploitation of these elements in a sustainable manner for economic development and wealth creation defines the concept of blue economy”.

For instance, aquaculture as a component of the blue economy has the capacity to generate millions of employment, food security and GDP growth.[14]

Conclusion and Recommendation

Nigeria economy is in a deplorable state, the overdependence on the oil sector is persistently failing, and therefore diversification is necessary to fillip the economy. The maritime sector undoubtedly is a perfect industry, with untapped resources and potentials capable to buoy the economy. Surprisingly, the government has not given much attention to this sector. To fully optimize the industry capacity, the government has a key role to play. One of which is by prioritizing the sector as a major source of revenue generation. The sector has been plighted with the problems of inadequate financing, lack of synergy among government agencies, and conflict in directives[15] etc.   We therefore recommend that the Federal Government should ensure adequate funding of the sector and also put in place well synchronized policies for the reformation, restructuring, and proper regulation of the sector.

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FOOT NOTES

[1] Is a student of the Faculty of Law of the distinguished Lagos State University, Nigeria.

[2] Orji Uchena Jerome, “How has the Nigerian Maritime Industry Performed in the Last 50 Years?” (Best Overall Essay in the Fourth hips and Ports National Essay Competition (2010)) – awarded the Dangote Prize

[3] Wikipedia, retrieved 24^th Aug, 2019.

[4] https://www.openknowledge.worldbank.org retrieved 24^th Aug, 2019.

[5] “Nigeria Unemployment Rate rises to 23.1% – NBS” Premium Times. 19 December 2018.

[6] https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/breaking-nigerias-inflation-rate-drops-to-11-37-per-cent-nbs/%7Ctitle=Breaking

[7] Global poverty projections released by the Brookings Institution in 2018, based on data from the World Poverty Clock, shows that Nigeria has overtaken India as home to the largest population of people living in extreme poverty, with 87 million citizens living on less than 1.90 dollars per day compared to India’s 73 million.

[8] Obasesam Okoi, “The Paradox of Nigeria’s Oil Dependency”, 21 January 2019 pg.1

[9] Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) 2018.

[10] Compared to the 26 billion dollars revenue generated by the oil sector between January-August 2018 (source: Punch, August 23, 2018). Judging by this figure, the maritime sector has the capacity to generate 30 billion dollars revenue more than the oil sector generates in seven months.

[11] The Guardian Newspaper, 14 December, 2018

[12] Supra

[13] Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency

[14] According to Dr. Dankoko Peterside, DG NIMASA

[15] According to Kunle Folarin (Chairman, Ports Consultative Council)