Osun Female Indigene Pleads with President Tinubu: Restore Order and Save Lives

Open Letter to His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu , GCFR
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Aso Rock Villa , Presidential Villa, Abuja

Date: 24th February 2025

Urgent Appeal for Federal Intervention in Osun State Local Government Crisis.

Your Excellency,

I write to you as a concerned citizen of Nigeria and an indigene of Osun State, Oyeniyi Oluwatosin ARIKE , from Elekihan’s Compound in Isedo 1, Ila-Orangun, Osun State. My letter is borne out of deep anguish over the escalating political crisis in our state’s local government system, which now threatens the peace, security, and livelihoods of Osun’s people, values your administration swore to uphold.

First, let me remind you, Sir, that many of us Osun indigenes based outside the state exercised our civic rights in the 2023 elections with the hope that your leadership would prioritize the welfare and security of our kinsmen back home. We voted for you because we believed in your promise to ensure Nigerians could “sleep with both eyes closed,” confident that their lives and property would be safeguarded. This expectation aligns with Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended), which unequivocally states: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

Regrettably, Osun State is currently teetering on the brink of chaos. The recent creation of parallel local government executives by Governor Ademola Adeleke has exacerbated tensions, leading to violent clashes, loss of lives, and destruction of property. Last week’s crisis, marked by alleged complicity of reorganized Amotekun operatives, has left our communities traumatized. These actions not only violate constitutional provisions on local government autonomy (Fourth Schedule, CFRN 1999) but also risk institutionalizing anarchy.

Your Excellency, the implications are dire. As competing factions now vie for control of Local Government Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), further bloodshed looms. My extended family in Ila-Orangun, like countless others, depends on farming for survival. Osun’s agrarian economy—a critical contributor to Nigeria’s food security and agricultural revival—faces collapse if this crisis persists. How can farmers till their lands amid such instability? How can Nigeria achieve agricultural transformation if Osun, a breadbasket state, is left to burn?

The federal government’s silence is deafening. While we acknowledge the principle of federalism, Section 4(5) of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly, Abuja to intervene in state affairs where there is a breakdown of public order. Osun’s crisis demands urgent federal attention before it metastasizes into full-blown conflict.

I therefore implore Your Excellency to:
1. Direct the Nigeria Police Force and relevant security agencies to restore order, disband all illegal parallel structures, and investigate last week’s violence.
2. Urge the National Assembly to invoke its constitutional powers to address the breach of local government autonomy in Osun.
3. Facilitate dialogue between warring factions to ensure a lawful, transparent resolution.

Mr. President, history will judge us not by our political affiliations, but by our courage to defend the voiceless. Do not let Osun become another statistic in Nigeria’s chronicles of avoidable crises.

Respectfully,
Oluwatosin Arike Daniels-Afolayan
Elekihan’s Compound, Isedo 1
Ila-Orangun, Osun State
oluwatosinarike01@gmail.com.

Cc:
– The Senate President – Nigeria , Federal Republic of Nigeria
– Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria .
– Inspector General, Nigeria Police Force
– Director-General, Department of State Security (DSS)
– Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq , Chairman Nigerian Governors’ Forum.