The Chairman of the Ondo State Council of Obas and Deji of Akureland, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, has said the nation may be heading towards precipice unless the country commences the process of restructuring, saying “all is not well with our nation”
The monarch who stated this during the 14th Public Lecture and Presentation of Essays in honour of Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, to commemorate his 60th Birthday with the theme “The labour of our heroes past – collective Efforts to keep Nigeria as one Indivisible Entity” held in Abuja.
The traditional ruler of Akure maintained that restructuring the Nigerian state remains the only sincere way to make the country work better for everyone.
Oba Aladetoyinbo said Nigeria would surmount all the challenges confronting it and tearing the nation apart if there is true federalism stressing the need to rebuild all bridges and close divisive tendencies threatening the existence of Nigeria as one indivisible entity
He said: “We cannot continue to hide from the truth that is already staring us in the face. We will fail in our responsibilities of protecting the labour of our heroes if we fail to speak out that all is not well with our nation.
“We can see the dwindling fortunes of our economy, many states are no longer economically viable, owing months of salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities. Besides, there seems to be a lot of mistrust between the government and the governed.
The monarch who called for a total restructuring of the nation as a way out of the current quagmire bedevilling the nation, said: “It is expedient that we must as a matter of urgency build the bridges and close all the openings that is already threatening our coexistence as one indivisible entity.
“It is time for everyone to agree and come to terms with this issue of restructuring that will guarantee fiscal and true federalism, devolution of powers with local government autonomy with a complete overhaul of our present constitution.
“I am sure we will surmount these seemingly unending challenges that is tearing us apart if we are truly patriotic about this restructuring.”
Oba Aladetoyinbo maintained that part of the restructuring will be to give constitutional roles to the traditional roles, saying “as one of the foremost traditional rulers in the nation, we have seen the prospect and the gains in assigning constitutional roles to traditional rulers.
“As we speak, many of us are doing all we can to ensure peace in our domain, attracting investors and contributing to national development despite the fact that we do not have a constitutional role.”
The Guest Lecturer, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, cautioned politicians not to take the people for granted, urging them to live above board to ensure that the legacies and labour of the nation’s founding fathers are not destroyed.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buhari Urges MTN For Quality Service, Downward Price Review In Cost Of Data, Other Services
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday at State House Abuja urged the MTN Group to make the available top-of-the-range service to its Nigerian subscribers…
Now is time for restructuring, all is not well with our nation ― Deji of Akure
and then