Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams, has condemned the present deplorable state of major federal roads in the South-West geopolitical zone of the country, calling for total rehabilitation of the roads.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin during sensitisation programme on security among members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Adams said that rehabilitation of the federal roads would improve the socio-economic fortune of the area.
“I’ve moved around. There’s no federal road in South-West that is motorable. Do we need to spend lots of money taking flights here and there because of bad roads? Most of the main roads are federal roads. I recently called for repair of Badagry-Mile 2 road last week; Lagos to Ilorin should be a three-hour journey. It could have been a pleasure travelling on roads seeing the serene environment and different communities. What stops us from having good roads? We have the resources,” he said.
Adams, who also reiterated the call for restructuring of the country, said the only way to move Nigeria forward is through restructuring back to federating units.
“We are not allowing our federating units to generate resources for the government. If the government had allowed federating units to generate resources, our revenue generation would have been more than what we have today. Definitely, our investors would have confidence in us.
“The problem we have in Nigeria is that we don’t want to agree on how to solve our problems. In as much as we continue to do that, there will still be impediments on our way. The only way to move Nigeria forward is through restructuring back to federating units. By then every region will develop at its own pace. Most of the problems compounded by the federal structure are not necessary. Through federating units there will be room for innovation by political leaders and regions. Issue of security would be tackled by federal and state police.
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“Without restructuring, we are deceiving ourselves. Our government do not know that the voice of people is the voice of God. It would be hard to run a government if you say you have power as a government to suppress or ignore the voice of people. This is because before people clamour for something, God has assigned it from heaven. So, a good government must listen to the voice of the people.”
He also described calls for the name change of Yoruba as diversionary, saying: “We don’t need that. It’s unnecessary. I don’t know why my brother is bringing about that issue. Yoruba people have been bearing the name for about 8,000 years. I see people calling for a name change as agents of destruction”.
Adams also raised the alarm over alleged activities of some South-West governors who he said are presently recruiting private individuals to form state security apparatus.
He, however, condemned the activities, describing it as unacceptable.
The Aare Ona kakanfo, who said that political leaders should differentiate between politics and security, added that without security there can’t be good governance.
He commended present complementary roles between the police and the OPC on security matters, especially in the South-West, adding that stakeholders should support the collaboration rather than work against it.
“Do you know that some South-West governors are recruiting their political errand boys for security purposes without consulting me or the OPC anymore. And when the issue of security threats come, they’ll remember to call the Aare Ona kakanfo to come and intervene. I’m not getting a salary from the government, but I’ve been using my money to run this position and our money for this organisation.
“An example is in Ogun state, some few people were taken to the forest to be personal private security of the state government. It’s condemnable. We should differentiate between politics and security. Without security, there can’t be good governance. When a government politicise security, it’s doomed to fail. It’s a signal to Nigeria. If there are any security problems in the area they should not hold me or the IG responsible. The IG has done his part, partnering with an organisation with antecedents. But some of our governors want to politicise security issues. It’s uncalled for and it’s unacceptable,” he said.
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