Olajide Odumosu


When the debate around Southwest security erupts, as it frequently does, commentators rush to compare the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) with emerging private security outfits. That comparison is not only inaccurate — it is an insult to history.

The OPC is not a security company. It is a structured, ideologically grounded Yoruba socio-political organisation with a membership exceeding two million — a figure that dwarfs the Nigeria Police Force (fewer than 400,000 officers) and the Nigerian Armed Forces (approximately 230,000 personnel) combined. To place this organisation in the same bracket as any recently formed security outfit is to compare a river with a roadside puddle.

The OPC’s credibility was not purchased — it was paid for in blood. During the dark years following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, when speaking truth to military power was a death sentence, the OPC under the leadership of Iba Gani Adams stood firm. Members were shot on sight, imprisoned without trial, and some died in detention. Gani Adams himself was incarcerated. That baptism of fire forged an organisation that understands sacrifice as a founding principle, not a talking point.

When peace returned, the OPC turned its formidable structure toward community security — and delivered. They penetrated the forest in Igangan, Oyo State, and arrested the notorious bandit simply known as Wakili, a feat conventional security forces had failed to achieve. Their reward? Arrest and imprisonment, while Nigerians scrolled past in silence. They dismantled the feared Badoo cult in Ikorodu, Lagos. They held the line for Yoruba residents in Mile 12 and Ajegunle. No press conference. No government commendation. No recognition.

Recognising this pattern of service without reward, the OPC wisely recalibrated. The organisation’s leader formally wrote to all Southwest state governors, seeking official endorsement to operationalise their security capacity. That letter has received no response to date.https://urbanexpresslive.com/https-urbanexpresslive-com-what-zamfara-aa-chairman-said-in-reaction-to-incarceration-of-its-presidential-candidate/

The message from OPC is therefore simple and dignified: if any individual or outfit believes they possess superior manpower, intelligence networks, local knowledge, and community trust to secure the Southwest, the OPC will not stand in their way. Competition is not their concern. Their mission is the protection of Yorubaland — with or without applause.https://urbanexpresslive.com/what-zamfara-aa-chairman-said-in-reaction-to-incarceration-of-its-presidential-candidate/

What the Nigerian government must confront, however, is a harder question: How long can the state afford to leave its most experienced, most deeply rooted community security asset unrecognised — while insecurity festers across the region?

The OPC is not asking for charity. They are offering capability. The Southwest cannot afford for that offer to keep going unanswered.


*The OPC operates under the national coordination of Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland.*