The Generalissimo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, on Friday expressed disappointment that despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu being an apostle of federalism, the country has not moved forward.
Iba Gani Adams who stated this while speaking with journalists during the 10th World Congress of Oodua Progressive Union, OPU, in Osogbo, Osun state, therefore agitated for restructuring without wasting time.
He remarked, “already we have six zones. Turn those zones into federating units, and let Abuja be a Governing Centre for the country. All the zones should be called regions or provinces. The province will then have state and local government areas. We need four structures of governance.”
“All the four structures will have their policing structures. With that, Nigeria will move forward. That is our suggestion in the Oodua Progressive Union and Oodua People’s Congress. When we continue to keep quiet, the President may not know what is going on.
“And those regular politicians may not tell him the truth. But we, as opinion leaders, will tell him the truth. He is our brother. This was what we said when President Goodluck Jonathan was in office, we said it when President Umaru Ya’ardua was in office.”
He however maintained that the only way to resolve insecurity issues in Nigeria is for the federal government to embrace true federalism, affirming that no genuine economic development could be achieved if the federal government fails to restructure the imbalance in the country.
“We know President Bola Tinubu as an apostle of federalism, hence, should not jettison the idea now that he is leading the country.
“As one of the country’s opinion leaders, we must remind President Bola Tinubu about the need to restructure. He should remember when he was a Governor of Lagos State, he was an apostle of federalism.
“We learn a lot from him about the benefits of true federalism as a governor. Since then, the issues remain, and Nigeria has not moved forward.
“We have used a lot of economic policies that do not work in Nigeria. We have used a lot of security strategies in Nigeria that have failed. We brought Okonjo-Iweala, but we couldn’t move forward. We brought a sound-minded Sanusi Lamido to run CBN, but he could not resolve the problem.
“We have brought a lot of Nigerians from abroad to solve our problem but all efforts so far failed. We have had a lot of Inspector General of Police, yet we do not have a good security network.
“In terms of infrastructure, we have had several good Ministers of Works and Housing, yet we could not get good policies to solve the challenges. How can we move forward? As a citizen, we have to proffer solutions and remind those in government that they are there to solve problems. How do they solve the problem? They have to restructure Nigeria,”he added.
