Gani Adams, the National Coordinator of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), a pan-Yoruba group, on Thursday called for true federalism to achieve accelerated development in the country.
He made the call at the 25th OPC June 12 Lecture held in Lagos.
Adams, who is also the Convener, Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) Worldwide, said it would be difficult for the country to take its rightful place in the comity of nations without true federalism and proper restructuring.
He described the June 12, 1993, election as a watershed in the country’s political history, noting that 32 years down the line, Nigeria had not made desired progress due to the absence of true federalism
He said: “We are all gathered here today not only to honour the memory of Aare Moshood Abiola and others who died between 1993 and 1998, but to also tell ourselves some bitter truth.”
“Nigeria is going through various crises today because some leaders are stubbornly against restructuring.”
“In honour of Abiola and other martyrs, I want to say it pointedly that whether anybody likes it or not, this country will be restructured.”
“And the earlier this is done, the better for all of us because there is no way we can guarantee peace and security if this country is not restructured.”
“If this country is restructured in a way that every locality controls the instrumentality of security, backed by intelligence, the wanton killings of Nigerians will stop automatically.”
Adams stressed that June 12 should be the catalyst for national development through political, economic, electoral and judicial reforms.
“We must wage intelligent war against kidnapping in cities, towns and villages, and the time for that fight is now through restructuring.”
“To honour Abiola, Nigeria’s electoral system must be restructured and decentralised.”
“Nigeria is destined to be great, but if the attitude of leaders to restructuring and development is negative, Nigeria is going nowhere,” the OPC leader added.
In his keynote address, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said the 1999 constitution remained the major setback for the country.
Falana, who was represented Mr. Wale Adeoye, noted that June 12 meant a lot of things to a lot of people, but to the majority, it was a demonstration of courage, resilience and iron-cast determination of the people of Nigeria.
“It means the ability of Nigerians to organise beyond their ethnic division, the triumph of good over evil. It means if a system is bad, Nigerians can defeat that system. June 12 means life and death.”
“The 1999 Constitution is a major setback for Nigeria, and there is no way we can talk about stability, progress and development with this in place,” he stated.
