Why insecurity is creeping into Yorubaland – Gani Adams

Nigeria's Southwest region, historically regarded as the country's most economically developed and politically stable zone, faces an emerging security challenge that demands immediate attention from international investors. Recent statements from Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo (traditional leader) of Yorubaland, reveal a troubling trend: criminal insecurity has increasingly become a profit-driven enterprise rather than a byproduct of broader socioeconomic dysfunction. This shift represents a fundamental change in the nature of Southwest security threats. Unlike insurgencies driven by ideological motivations or communal grievances, commodified insecurity operates as a revenue-generating mechanism. Criminal networks systematically exploit vulnerable communities through kidnapping, extortion, and resource theft—treating human security as a tradeable commodity. For European investors with substantial operations in Lagos, Ibadan, and other Southwest commercial hubs, this represents a material operational risk that extends beyond traditional security concerns. The region's attempted response—the Amotekun security outfit, a regional rapid response force—has itself become entangled in political competition. Multiple state governments have expressed reservations about empowering this mechanism, citing concerns about centralized authority and political weaponization. This political fragmentation undermines coherent security responses and creates operational gaps that criminal networks exploit systematically. The alleged politicization of Amotekun recruitment further suggests that security capacity has become subordinate to