Time to restructure Nigeria is now (1)

Time to restructure Nigeria is now (1)

ALTHOUGH the entire Southern Nigeria, the Middle Belt, and some Northerners have been strident in calling for the restructuring of Nigeria, the South-West, or specifically the Yorubas, to their credit, can be said to be the greatest advocates of a restructured Nigeria.

It began from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the political father of the Yorubas who can also be called the father of true federalism in Nigeria. Awo, as he was fondly called, faithfully advocated for a federal socialist democratic system of government, a system that would bequeath each region autonomy and the freedom to adopt policies best suited for its people without unnecessary interference from a central government.

Awo’s Path to Nigerian Freedom, published in 1947, is said to be the first systematic federalist manifesto expounded by a Nigerian politician. He propounded federalism as the only pathway for equitable national integration. Subsequently, Chief Awolowo wrote many other books in which he expanded and reinforced his idea of federalism which some writers have described as “limited central planning and state-led infrastructural development.”

Suffice it to say that Chief Awolowo spent much of his political life canvassing for ‘political self-determination of each ethnic or linguistic group’ as the only way to guarantee sustainable peace and unity in Nigeria. The endless crisis that has engulfed Nigeria since the abortion of the First Republic with its 1963 Constitution, which was closest to Awo’s federalist manifesto, has proved Awo right!    

Another tireless advocate of a restructured Nigeria is Aare Afe Babalola, SAN. Babalola has been one of the leading and consistent voices on the imperatives of restructuring Nigeria. He writes about it almost every week in his newspaper columns. 

Considering President Tinubu’s campaign slogans, “Emilokan” (it is my turn) and “Yoruba Lokan” (it is Yoruba’s turn), and his appointment of Yorubas into most strategic federal offices, one can safely say that Yorubas are now in control of the Federal Government.

We can, therefore, in all good faith, call on all Nigerians, especially the Yorubas who have historically been in the forefront of the agitation, to demand restructuring from the Federal Government. It is an altruistic demand to make. It is time to put into practice what we preach.  

Since after Olusegun Obasanjo, the Yorubas have another four, or eight years at most, to prevail on Tinubu’s government to actualise the Nigerian dream and the Yoruba dream of restructuring, or true federalism. Four, or eight years may seem a long time, but before you know it, eight years will be gone!

We acknowledge the fact that no individual president or lawmaker has the power to restructure the country by fiat. But we are also aware of the difference the support of the president and the heads of other key arms of the government can make in the quest for a restructured Nigeria. 

Sources: Vanguard Editorial