Pan-Yoruba socio-political groups have renewed the Southwest’s agitation for autonomy within the Nigerian federation. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI, who witnesed the launch of the coalition’s book titled: ‘Regional Autonomy or Nothing’, captures the collective vision for regional integration.
It is regional autonomy or nothing. That was the message passed across at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, when a coalition of pan-Yoruba youth organisations addressed a press conference on the state of the nation. At the event, a publication, which embodies the summary of the agitations of the Yoruba within the Nigerian political space, was unveiled. It is aptly titled: Regional Autonomy or Nothing. For the avoidance of doubt, regional autonomy was defined as: the control of the natural resources within the region; developing and establishing appropriate governance structure for the region; and devolved authority, responsibilities and span of control to manage and ensure the sustenance of the region.
The position of the coalition, which is made up of groups like the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), the Yoruba Assembly, the Yoruba Academy, the Atayese Yoruba Group and the Oodua Foundation, is that the unity of Nigeria is negotiable and must be negotiated. It is predicated on the fact that over the years, the forced marriage of the diverse ethno-national groups that were brought together in 1914 has produced tension and difficult moments for the country. Indeed, it is a clarion call for the Yoruba Nation to take hold of their destiny.
The Chairman of the Atayese Yoruba Group and son of the first civilian governor of Ondo State, Prince Tokunbo Ajasin, who reeled out the Yoruba demands at the press conference, warned delegates to the National Conference to utilise the opportunity that has been handed to them to negotiate the future of Nigeria, by building a consensus to reclaim the country from wrong-footed ideas and practices that have brought it to where it is today.
He threatened that the Yoruba might be compelled to resort to other means, such as breaking away from Nigeria, if the Conference does not accede to their demand for regional autonomy, saying: “anybody that does not want a change in the statuesque does not wish the country well.”
In the preface to the publication, the need to revisit what was ‘agreed’ at the various constitutional conferences that led to the First Republic and Nigeria’s independence was stated. The group noted that prior to the British invasion and conquest, of the different ethnic nationalities that make up the present-day Nigeria, they were independent nation-states. In the light of the tension and difficult moments being experienced in recent times, the group said it is imperative to review the journey so far and chart a new course. “The next step in charting a course for the future is to safeguard the destiny of the Yoruba people, and reconstruct the Nigerian federation. This is the first intent of this publication; that is, a revisit and restating of the agenda of the Yoruba people … what Yoruba people want,” the group noted.
Ajasin said it is inconceivable that northern leaders are the ones leading the campaign against devolution of power and restructuring of government. He argued: “If any region needs a stronger federating unit with greater capacity to provide education, health, security, wealth creation and other social amenities, it is the North where strong links exist between the level of poverty and conscription of innocent youths into extremist tendencies. It appears Northern leaders are not concerned, and indeed have no plan for the teeming youth from the region, as long as they are able to continue clinging to their hold on power.”
The present round of Yoruba agitation for autonomy was sparked by a recent publication, titled Key issues before Northern delegates to the 2014 National Conference, where the North claims to be “the backbone and strength of Nigeria”. According to the coalition of youths, the Northern reasoning can be summed up thus: “Nigeria is two countries of Northern and Southern Nigeria; oil exploration in the Niger Delta was financed by Northern groundnut proceeds and the North feeds the rest of the South with daily supplies of cows… therefore the North is equally entitled to Niger Delta oil proceeds as the Niger Deltans themselves.”
Regional Autonomy or Nothing concludes that the North’s obsession with revenue sharing from the proceeds of oil has exposed a jaundiced vision of the developmental aspiration of the people of the region. On the North’s claim that Nigeria is de facto two countries of made up of two countries of Northern and Southern Nigeria, it described the claim as false, stating that the ‘North’, as defined and described in the publication, ceased to exist the day Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) created 12 states in 1967. It equally debunks the claim in the Northern publication that the North is 80 per cent of the Nigerian landmass.
Ajasin reeled out the demands of the Yoruba people, as contained in the publication, as follows: a regional government with its constitution and unfettered political and fiscal autonomy, except on issues it agrees to cede to the federal government; a negotiated legislative Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual list; a unicameral legislature at the centre; a parliamentary form of government at the centre; the right to self-determination or the right to secede; establishment of regional police; fiscal federalism and resource control; and a special status for Lagos.
The region also wants the outcome of the 2014 National Conference to form the basis for a new people’s constitution. “The Southwest region must include all Yoruba people outside the imposed artificial boundaries in Edo, Delta, Kogi and Kwara states,” the Chairman of the Atayese Group added.
Against this background, the Yoruba publication said a national conversation, which has been a popular demand since the first military coup of 1966, had been long overdue. It said that despite the pervasive cynicism about the real intentions of President Goodluck Jonathan and the doubts about the political will of his administration to deliver the radical restructuring that are necessary to resolve the fundamental problems of legitimacy of the ‘Nigerian Project’, the Conference is perceived by many delegates, including those from the Southwest, as a golden opportunity to undertake a holistic transformation of the Nigerian federation.
The publication, Regional Autonomy or Nothing, is divided into three main sections. Section A, with the theme ‘Our stance as Yoruba people’, outlines specifically what the Yoruba people want from the National Conference. These demands, which are already listed above, are regarded as the irreducible minimum that the Yoruba people of Nigeria would accept. Section A goes on to trace the history and experience of the Yoruba race and the challenges it is facing in modern day Nigeria, particularly the structure of the federation, which is not oriented towards development.
Section B is addressed specifically towards debunking some Northern claims and assertions, particularly the fallacies and ‘hyperbolic self-assessments’ of the region, some of which have equally received attention in this article. In addressing this issue, it goes into the history of oil exploration in Nigeria; noting that from early beginnings in 1908 till date, all initial expenses for prospecting and producing oil are borne exclusively by the foreign multi-national oil companies. It adds: “The Nigerian Federal Government spends nothing of its own funds in the industry, except for cash calls which are paid for by proceeds of petroleum…
“While the North produced groundnut and cotton, Western Nigeria produced cocoa, Mid West Nigeria produced rubber, palm oil, palm kernel and timber, Eastern Nigeria which included the present day Niger Delta produced palm oil, palm kernel and timber.” It goes on to say that each region sold its produce and kept the income for its use. “Only the export duty of the agricultural products was shared on the basis of 50 per cent derivation, 30 per cent distributable funds for the regions and 20 per cent to the Federal Government,” it recalls.
Under the revenue allocation formula of the First Republic, “it was the North that benefitted financially from the contributions of the other three regions and not the other way round.” It states, for instance, that the North received a disproportionate share in the allocation of 30 per cent from the Distributable Pool Account.
It adds: “Out of the 30 per cent of the resources of all the four regions paid into that account, the percentage paid into each account was as follows: Northern Nigeria, forty ninety-fifths; Eastern Nigeria, thirty-one ninety-fifths; Western Nigeria, eighteen ninety-fifths; and Mid-West Nigeria six ninety-fifths (Section 141, pp.66, 1963 Nigeria Constitution]. Thus, documented evidence indicates that since 1914, the North has been and continues to be a major beneficiary of the financial output of the whole country.”
The third section spells out the kind of government the group is agitating for, in specific terms. It comes under the following headings: good governance, devolution of power, form of government, structure of government, resource control and taxation, fiscal federalism, revenue sharing and resource control, policing and fundamental human rights.
In conclusion, the coalition of Yoruba youth organizations said the onus is on the delegates at the National Conference to do the needful, to ensure that the country returns to the regional system of government, which could be based on the current six geo-political zones.
National Publicity Secretary, Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo said regional autonomy is the most viable instrument for a stronger and united Nigeria, because it would create the enabling environment for the different ethnic nationalities to develop at their own pace. He noted that “it is not a mistake that God brought together people who have the same thinking process, the same worldview.” Famoriyo said Nigeria is the only country in the world where people go to the centre to collect allocation. In contrast, he said “when you look around, money is just begging to be made on our streets, but the unitary system we are operating in Nigeria has not allowed us to be able to think and come up with the necessary strategy that would push us ahead.”
