Eradicating Thuggery: Oluwo Sets To Rehabilitate Youths In Own Domain

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi said no section of the youth particularly, those that are considered as miscreants should be neglected by the society.

He averred that the society that bred miscreants over the years has the responsibility to refine them and make them useful for themselves.

Oba Akanbi was speaking on Thursday at his palace in Iwo while playing host to leaders of various youth groups in the town and environs with a view to jaw jaw with them on how to ensure that they all embrace peace for the good of the society.

He said that it is important to show them love and give them the necessary supports that would transform them to become positive agents in the society.

Oluwo disclosed that efforts are in top gear to commit a special fund for proper rehabilitation and reintegration of the youths.

“I consider youth engagement as part of my social contribution to ensure that youths, particularly those that are socially tagged as thugs are sensitised, rehabilitated and turned to positive agents of the society. We are going to give them scholarship, if they want to learn some trade, we will empower them.

“Most of them thrive in criminality because they either feel not being catered for, some leaders in the past disappointed them. I believe they can still be useful especially for security of this country, we have to change and rehabilitate the people we tag as thugs.

“It is the society that bred them. The problem did not just start now. So we have to dialogue with them and we have made up our mind to invest in them. We want to change those bad eggs to become good eggs.

“We have to avert what happened during ENDSARS when property belonging to people were destroyed. You can imagine, one of the illustrious sons of this town, his property that were built over the years even before he ventured into politics were destroyed. We don’t want that to happen again” Oluwo said.

He admonished the youths to redirect their energy to sustaining the peace that lwo is known for.

Also speaking, Prof. Lai Olurode who had addressed the youth groups on why they were brought together by the Monarch told them that the future of the town, hence the need for the dialogue.

“They have not been effectively coopted into the mainstream of the society and there is an indication that these groups are increasing, they are recruiting more and more into their fold and if the society continues like that it may well mean that those people acknowledged as deviants will outnumber those who are the normal in the mainstream of the society. No leader in the society should play with the idea of increasing those who are in the marginals.

“The truth is that in Iwo or any other society today, there are those you can regard as area boys, they have their own language, community, they listen to their leaders, they don’t listen to any other person, they have a subculture of their own. In order to be sure that you capture them, mainstream them and get them into the society, you need to dialogue with them” Prof. Olurode said.

Leaders of the youth groups appreciated the gesture and assured the Oluwo of their cooperation in promoting and sustaining peace in Iwoland and Osun State in general.