Several leaders of the Yoruba nation, have, again, insisted on the restructuring of the country, noting that the Yoruba had, for too long, been taken for a ride and given token in the Nigerian project.
Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; the publicity secretary of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), Dr Kunle Olajide; national coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams and a founding member of the Alliance for Democracy and former deputy governor in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, on Saturday, called for the restructuring of country based on the principle of fiscal federalism.
According to them, the nation could no longer accept a situation whereby some of its people were offered tokens and used against the general interest of the race.
Adebanjo, who was the convener of the Yoruba Summit, which took place last week, at his Lekki, Lagos State residence, told Sunday Tribune that “a country as multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic as Nigeria cannot function properly under a unitary system of government,” insisting that it was high time the country was restructured under a truly federal system of government.
He said the Yoruba nation was now insisting on restructuring because “what comes to the South-West from the federation is a token compared to what it would have benefited if the zone and others were to be given autonomy as was the case at Independence.
“What the Yoruba nation is getting now is a token; people should go into history. The resource control that is given to the South-South as a share of the crude oil discovered in their area, Awolowo voted for it since 1954 and we got it. They refer to it as revenue allocation on the basis of derivation. It is derivation that those people are referring to as resource control. It was part of what led to the 1954 Constitutional Conference that we attended in London on the return of which [Nnamdi] Azikiwe came to say federalism was the way. It was what led to the Independence Constitution and even when we became a Republic, it was that constitution we used. That is why we were insisting the South-South be given their due through derivation, based on the crude oil they produce,” he said.
On the essence of the last Wednesday meeting, Adebanjo said: “Why I called that meeting is because if all Yoruba insist, we can continue. But if we are shouting restructuring and [Bola] Tinubu didn’t go there, do you see the essence of coming together,” even as he maintained that “Yoruba now is not asking for anything outside restructuring and would not go into any alliance with anybody at any election and after the election, they will begin to dribble us as Buhari has been dribbling you now.”
“Even the ACN, they told us before they went into an alliance. Restructuring was part of what they agreed upon; their leader now came and set it aside. The president now came and pushed it into the archives, where are we,” he queried.
“Yoruba Agenda to me is a Nigerian Agenda, it is the Yoruba position for a united Nigeria, where every autonomous unit would have autonomy,” Chief Adebanjo declared.
In the same vein, Dr Olajide called on the Yoruba to unite in the call for the restructuring of the country, saying those who had always betrayed the Yoruba cause after being offered tokens, would have themselves to blame.
Olajide said: “We are beckoning on those who think like us to be part of the cause; we want the restructuring of Nigeria for the benefit of Nigerians. What do we mean by restructuring? In our own dictionary, restructuring means fiscal federalism; no more no less. Resources in your land belongs to you. How can you explain the contradictions whereby the land belongs to the state government, whereas the minerals under it belong to the Federal Government? It cannot work. Where else have you seen a country, as huge as Nigeria, having a centralised police force? It has not worked and it cannot work; that is why we are having security challenges. Where on earth can you see the land belonging to a state and the Ministry of Agriculture, which has no land, is having more money than the state,” Olajide said.
He maintained that the Yoruba nation had become fed up with the current federal system in practice, noting that there must be a positive change through a restructuring that is based on fiscal federalism.
“It is only with fiscal federalism that we can unlock the potentials of this country. But for us in Yorubaland, we cannot continue with what we have now anymore, and this is the cry of our people—they are yearning for a restructured Federal Republic of Nigeria, where each part of the country will take its destiny into its hands considerably.
Similarly, the national coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, called for the unity of the Yoruba nation, noting that for too long, the South-West had allowed itself to be divided by politics.
He noted that the Yoruba nation needed to unite first, after which it must fully demand for the restructuring of the country.
Adams noted that it was expedient for the race to unite and present a common front to demand the restructuring of Nigeria, noting that ever since the Yoruba had been calling for restructuring, the country had remained stagnant, which showed only genuine restructuring along the lines of regionalism could move it forward.
“When you look at things realistically, you will see that since we have been calling for restructuring, Nigeria has not moved forward an inch economically, security-wise and even in terms of infrastructure. Until we restructure, we cannot move forward. The only thing that can stop all the agitations and insecurity we have in this country to bring back the 1963 Republican Constitution. If our leaders want to move the country forward, they should bring out that constitution, because it was the only document that our leaders then agreed with that every region should develop at its pace.”
Also speaking on the need for unity among the Yoruba and the restructuring of Nigeria, Dr Omisore, stated that “it is only when the Yoruba are united that we can achieve the dreams of our forebears.
“We must unite irrespective of our political leanings or associations. We need a strong and united Yoruba nation. It is when we are united that we can push for the restructuring of our country,” he said.