Sesan Laoye || The high rate of crime in Nigeria has been ascribed to the attitudes of
Nigerian youths towards foreign culture. Dr. Fredric Fasheun, Founder of the Odua Peoples Congress, (OPC), in
an interview with our correspondent, at his Okota office in Lagos, on
the rate of crime and what should be done to curb it said that
despite the fact that most of the crimes being committed are not in
consonant with Nigerian culture, the government too has contributed to
the increase in crime because they have failed to adopt measures
that would nip crime in the bud.
He said that Nigerian culture is different from what Nigerians have
inherited from abroad, pointing out that originally in all parts of
Nigeria there was nothing like Armed robbery, Kidnapping, rape,
corruption and other vices against our national values and which are
not in our culture.
The founder of Odua Peoples Congress, said all tribes in Nigeria have
good values and respect for the rule of law but because we want to
behave like the whites, whose moral values are different from our own,
Nigerians brought in their culture which permeates all kinds of vices,
such as prostitution, disrespect to elders, looting and kidnapping.
He pointed out that in Nigeria we always be our brother’s keeper which
gives room to the extended family setting till today. “if we must get
out of the present problem we are facing as a result of crimes
especially by our youths, the only way out is to go back to the ways
we were living in the past where by you can keep what you are selling
on the road side and those going to the farm or whoever is passing by
would buy it and put money near the goods. To steal in those days was
not common, even when a thief comes to your house and found out that you are awake, he would
run away because he would not want to be caught but that is not the
case now. Rogues steal your things at gun point and you have no
option than to surrender if you don’t want to lose your life. This
situation makes some of us sad and that is why I am always against
government officials, public office holders, and politicians who get
to power or office to loot the treasury because they are worse than
armed robbers’’
What the country needs now, he said was to introduce cultural
education in our schools. This would encourage the moral standard of
our youths. ‘’Right now no positive things are introduced to our
education to encourage our culture. It is funny that, the foreigners
that we copy value Nigerian culture more than us. ‘’
Commenting on the development in Lagos and what is being done by the
government to curb crime, he said that the state has been very lucky
to have dutiful governors who always take the issue of crime
seriously. He said the money being spent to prevent and tackle various
crimes is encouraging and the government should be commended for that.
On the efforts of the OPC to curb crime in Yoruba land, Dr. Fasheun
said that the body has done a lot to ensure that criminals in the
region are fished out and handed over to the appropriate law
enforcement agencies for appropriate punishments. He pointed out that
members of the OPC don’t engage in other activities than the
protection of the people.
In his reaction to the diversification of the Nation’s economy from
oil to agriculture, the OPC leader counselled Nigerians to be patient because
Rome was not built in a day.
On his political Party the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), he said that
the party is still very much intact and for the mere fact that they
are not making noise like the APC and the PDP does not mean that the
party is no more in existence. He said the party is the most
disciplined and that, was why they don’t have the kind of rancor
existing other political parties where they fight for power and
positions. He said that the party would present candidates in all the
future elections saying that a lot of politicians are itching to join
the party and that in the coming elections Osun, Ekiti and even
Anambra, UPN would feature prominently there.
On the agitations all over the country especially on the issue of
restructuring, he said that justice is the only way to curb
restiveness all over the country saying that he was happy that
president Buhari has come back and he would now have time to address
all the issues at stake while he was away for treatment in the United
Kingdom.
