Yesterday, the federal government was asked to implement true federalism in an effort to create regional autonomy so that federating units could take care of themselves.
In Lagos, yesterday, The Voice of Reason’s (VOR) 2023 Goke Omisore Annual Lecture (GOAL) with the title “Southwest Regional Integration: The DAWN Commission Approach” featured this advise from Yoruba leaders.
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the leader of Afenifere, praised the late sage Obafemi Awolowo’s contribution to the growth of the Western area and noted that he fought against the colonial unitary constitution.
He added that Awolowo had warned the colonial powers that they couldn’t rule Nigeria under the unitary system.
The Afenifere leader opined that the lack of the adoption of true federalism would deter the growth of the country, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to adopt a constitution that would embrace federalism.
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“All the theories Awolowo propounded are still practicable today. Let’s forget self-aggrandisement. Let the new president change this constitution to the federal system where each region would develop at its own pace,” he said.
While delivering his speech as the guest speaker for the lecture, the Director-General of Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Mr Seye Oyeleye, lamented the lack of unity of the Yoruba.
“We see ourselves as people from different states rather than as Yoruba. It is becoming a taboo to appoint someone who is not indigenous to a state into a political position, no matter how deserving the person is.
“The shocking part is that even within some states in the South West region, we now discriminate between the ‘home based’ and the ‘Lagos based’. The ‘home-based’ team believe they are more deserving of political appointments than their kinsmen who are ‘Lagos-based’.
“We are all witnesses to these anomalies among us and they reinforce what I said earlier that we cannot rely solely on our common language, history and geographical location as the binding force of Yoruba nationalism,” he said.
He called for unity among Yoruba leaders to pursue the goal of advocating for federalism
The panelists: Mr Tope Fasua, Dr Segun Aina and Mr Olusoji Awogbade all called for the development of the western region during the panel discussion.
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