Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a leader of
Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has advocated a restructuring of
Nigeria that would allow each region of the country to have a distinct
Constitution to reflect the autonomy and differences among the regional units.
He made the call in Lagos while
speaking at a political colloquium yesterday
He said: “Nigeria is running a
unitary system of government; you cannot run Nigeria as a military system of
government considering the ethnic groups. We have passed that stage.
“Don’t let anybody tell you lies,
the word restructuring is not a strange or new word. All we are fighting for
today dated back to 1954.”
Noting the role of the military
in dismantling the autonomy of the various regions, he said: “It was the
military that destructured Nigeria. Awolowo fought to have an arrangement that
ensured a true federal system, he never went to the Federal Government to ask
for subsidy. Each region had its constitution. Western Region had its
Agent-General in Britain. Regions built their own universities. Obasanjo
federalised the universities.”
“Nigeria is running a unitary
system of government; you cannot run Nigeria as a unitary system of government
considering the ethnic groups. We have passed that stage.
Now you are talking sense. To be a slave in the land God brought you upon, disgusting.
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