The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised Governor Seyi Makinde over comments he made at an opposition parties’ summit, describing them as provocative.
Makinde, speaking at the National Summit of All Opposition Political Party Leaders, referred to the “Operation Wetie” violence that affected the South-West in the 1960s, warning against the emergence of a one-party state.
However, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, faulted the remark, calling it “disgraceful”.
“So, for a sitting governor, who constitutionally is actually the chief security officer of Oyo State, to bandy around this threat, that is really disgraceful. I think Governor Makinde should be ashamed of himself, quite frankly, because it’s wrong for him to do that,” Morka said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“People in leadership bear exceptional responsibility to speak with restraint, with decorum, and with some sensibility. You don’t sit there as governor, wield enormous authority, and incite people who are beneath you to violence. That is not democratic. That is completely anti-democratic.”
The “Operation Wetie” was a period of intense political unrest in the South-West, particularly in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Derived from a Yoruba expression meaning “wet him”, it involved the burning of political opponents’ homes and property using petrol.
The violence followed the disputed Western Region elections of 1965, which critics claimed were manipulated in favour of the ruling party.
At the summit, Makinde, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), warned: “For those that are carrying on as if there’s no tomorrow.
“They should remember that ‘Operation Wetie’ started from here. This is the same Wild Wild West.”
‘Danger Signals’
Despite criticism from the ruling party, an opposition figure from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ladan Salihu, defended Makinde’s statement.
Speaking on the same programme, Salihu said the governor’s remarks were intended as a caution based on current national developments.
“What Governor Makinde just did was to drop a warning. When you take the historical perspective of ‘Operation Wetie’ and contextualise it with what is happening today, there are salient signs. There are danger signals that will make you want to pray and hope that we are not on that path,” he said.
“We are on the amber light; we are approaching the danger signals. What he is saying, in essence, is to make sure the APC government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sober up and reflect on the future of Nigeria—on the issues we have on the ground that are now heating up: insecurity, a terrible economy, misgovernance, and what have you.
“If we do not take care of these problems, we are likely to fall into them. He is just giving a kind of wake-up call, and then the minders go all over the place.”