Operation Wetie: Gov. Makinde’s Dangerous Rhetorics.

Operation Wetie: Gov. Makinde’s Dangerous Rhetorics.

By: Inuwa Bwala.

I cannot still fathom what he means, but one thing is clear that, invoking the spirit of any form of violence, under whatever circumstances, is unstatesmanly and most uncharitable.

What people should always bear in mind, is the fact that, it takes a little issue to spark a larger crisis.

One can ignite crisis, but no one knows the dimenssions it could assume, neither can one predict when it will end.

It is with these at the back of my mind that, I think, the remarks credited to Oyo state Governor, Seyi Makinde, in which he tried to invoke the memory of the infamous “operation wetie”, was both dangerous and irresponsible of a leader.

No one wants to remember the horrors of the 1st and 2nd World wars. Neither do Nigerians pretend to cherish the memories of the civil war.

The 1st world war alone cost humanity more than 22 million lives.
And what started the 1st world war was a minor spark: the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Ferdinand Frantz in Sareyevo on June 28th 1914 by a Serb Nationalist.

Closer home, a minor skirmish in Maiduguri, when, the then, Borno state Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff deployed Operatives of Operation Flush,to enforce the use of helmets by Motorcyclists, that ignited the Boko Haram Insurgency.

The crisis has consumed hundreds of lives and dislocated socio-economic lines. It is still ravaging the Nation and there does not appear any solution in sight.

Leadership requires maturity, tactfulness and proportion and not a licence for irresponsible ranting by desperate Politicians.

When Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde talked about “Operation Wetie”: apparently referencing that dark, violent chapter in Nigeria’s political history from the 1960s, people hailed him.

But for those who were witnesses to and know what “Operation Wetie” means, it was indeed a very dangerous rhetoric.

“Wetie” means “wet it” in Yoruba. During the 1965 Western Region elections crisis, describing the practice of dousing political opponents, their homes, properties and vehicles with petrol and setting them ablaze.

It erupted after highly disputed 1965 western region elections, alleged to have been rigged.
The violence was part of the struggle between Chiefs Ladoke Akintola and Obafemi Awolowo.

That crisis gave the region the nickname “Wild Wild West,” as a result of the massive destruction of lives and property, that partly triggered the January 15, 1966 coup: the coup that truncated Nigeria’s First Republic.

Using that era as a rhetoric
during the Ibadan Summit of All Opposition Political Party Leaders, Makinde in my understanding was subtly threatning the ruling party, APC, against perceived moves to foist a one-party political structure on Nigeria.

The governor was essentially saying, history will repeat itself, with Ibadan/Oyo as the epicentre, just like that of that 1960s violence.

But no matter the level of provocation, perceived to have been done to those who gathered in Ibadan, awakening the memories of that wetie era was like scratching an old would.

Except perhaps for Makinde, the people of the south west have never seen it as a pride, that the crisis in the region during that regency, led to them being labbeled as the wild-wild west.

If the world could go to war, over the assasination of one individual, in a third rate country, our leaders should be careful about what they say or do in public.

At the risk of sounding combative, I srate that, neither threats of violence or war, nor invoking the era of operation wetie, could give Governor Makinde what he wants, the best way to go is to call out his fellow travellers to embibe the spirit of tolerance and persuation, the two cardinal principles of democracy.

Operation Wetie: Gov. Makinde’s Dangerous Rhetorics.