As Nigeria marks her 61st Independence Anniversary, Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, said Nigeria’s federation was built on falsehood, noting that the country had the potentials to be great again if the regions were given the autonomy to develop at their own pace.
Adams, currently on an official trip to Europe, said this, on Thursday, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Kehinde Aderemi, positing that adopting such an arrangement would allow the states to build their security architectures to enhance the federal security architecture.
The Yoruba generalissimo said Nigeria’s history and efforts of the founding fathers before and shortly after independence in 1960 were watersheds, lamenting that the past and the present crop of leaders had drifted along the line by initiating policies that were capable of destroying Nigeria’s federation.
This was just as he expressed worries on how a nation that was birthed with lots of hope and aspirations 61 years ago suddenly turned into a shadow of itself, with security challenges bedevilling it, among others.
“The growing spate of insecurity has created a lot of fear across the country. This has also resulted in the loss of hope, especially, with the Federal Government unending borrowings.
“Many would, no doubt, describe Nigeria as the giant of Africa, but the irony of our present situation in the country is that at 61, Nigeria’s federation was built on falsehood, and that has affected the entire system. For instance, the spate of insecurity has reached an alarming state with bandits killing and maiming Nigerians every day,” he said.
Iba Adams said many countries in the world triumph today because the foundation of their federation was built on truth and tailored according to the agreement they had before and after independence.
Speaking further, the Yoruba generalissimo posited that it was in Nigeria’s interest for the Federal Government to stop unending borrowings in order to salvage the future of the country, even as he further expressed worries over the growing spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
Iba Adams also reacted to the killing of the late Dora Akuyili’s husband, Dr Chikwe Akunyili, who was murdered last Wednesday by hoodlums at Nkpor while returning from a trip to Onitsha, Anambra State, where he had gone to obtain a posthumous award of excellence for his late wife.
According to Adams, the senseless killings, banditry and kidnappings across the land have been a major challenge for the present administration, saying such occurrences strengthened the call for the country to be restructured.
“The beauty of this is that each of the regions under this federation is blessed naturally with innate natural resources, solid minerals and agriculture can also do the magic for the less-productive region.
“This kind of arrangement, as far I am concerned, can actually salvage the country as it is in the case of Scotland that is presently enjoying certain autonomy under Britain,” he said.
“I am presently on a tour across Europe and I see the level of security, and how the leaders have been responding to the needs of the citizens.
“But back home in Nigeria, I think the Federal Government needs to step up its activities, especially, by making the nation safe for the citizens.
“We cannot continue to lose our best brains to insecurity as it was with the case of the late Chikwe Akuyili and several others,” he added.
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