Yoruba Crucial To Nigeria’s Unity, FG Should Listen To Us – Afenifere

The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), a faction of Afenifere, Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, says the federal government needs to reach out to the south-west and seek ways to address the plethora of challenges bedevilling the country from the region.

Wale Oshun, chairman of the ARG, said this on Friday during a summit in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

Oshun said the Yoruba People has played a vital role in keeping Nigeria as one, adding that the federal government must listen to the yearnings of the people on constitution review.

According to him, the 1999 constitution needs to be reviewed to make provisions for federating units, rather than a federal government at the centre.

“Nigeria is at a crossroads, and we the Yoruba people have always bear the brunt and burden of nationhood. And we are paying a disproportionate price for keeping the country united, and we think that there is a need now to start introspecting, listening to the voices of the ordinary Yoruba persons on what they ordinarily want in Nigeria. Is it being part of the country or not?” Oshun queried.

“What would they like to see as changes because the present constitution cannot sustain any development mode. So, is it restructuring? But you also realise that people have also been advocating for restructuring since 1992. So, people are now saying 29 years down the line, what is the sense in keeping and asking for the same thing that nobody is listening to?

Without Restructuring, Nigeria Faces Imminent Collapse – Afenifere

“So, we want to find out among ourselves, ‘what is the way forward? And as you can see from the interactions that we are actually at a crossroads. But something will emerge and an idea will evolve.

“You look at great countries where you have multi-nationalities. What you see is that unless the issue of federation is settled and settled equitably, where it is not settled equitably, a price has to be paid.

“I don’t think anybody in his right sense will say what we need to continue to do is to continue in perpetuity to be paying a price of inequality and underdevelopment”

He wondered why the north did not want to have a  constitutional dialogue.

Oshun recommended a return to the pre-independence constitution of the 50s when the three autonomous regions controlled the resources in their domain.

“Why are people running away from having a constitutional dialogue with their fellow Nigerians? Why is the north insisting that it does not need to talk to anybody anymore?

“One thing is clear; Yorubas, as a people, as a race, have always being fair-minded people, tolerant and willing to co-exist.

“We can go back to the pre-independence constitution of 1959, wherein what we had was a true federation, in which it is not a question of devolution of power but a question of the federation units donating parts of their powers to the centre — federating units exploiting resources in their backyards and paying taxes to the centre.

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