Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was again chosen as a place of history as many Yoruba leaders, including governors and traditional rulers, converged on the city penultimate week for a summit. At the historic meeting, similar to that of 1956, a common position was taken on the need for the restructuring of Nigeria and the model to be adopted.
The summit brought several Yoruba socio-cultural and political groups together under one platform to tackle a common problem. For the first time in many years, for instance, members of Afenifere sat together with their peers in the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and members of the two factions of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) sat together and spoke in one language.
So were governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Members of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and Atayese also addressed the gathering. Former ministers, traditional rulers, activists, professionals, artisans, students, market men and women and others coalesced at Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba Ibadan to be part of history.
After the meeting which lasted six hours during which frank contributions were entertained, the summit made what it described as the ‘Ibadan Declaration,’ urging the Federal Government to urgently restructure Nigeria along regional lines. They called for a return to the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with relevant modifications which gave more powers to the regions.
The highlight of the summit was the participation and endorsement of the position by Southeast and South-south ethnic groups which were represented by their leaders.
In his goodwill message, Chief John Nwodo, who led a delegation of the Igbo nation to the summit, expressed strong support of the Southeast people for the agitation for restructuring. He said the Igbo are clear in their agitation for regionalisation to allow rapid development.
“I came here with a large delegation to show solidarity for this summit. Today’s event shows that democracy is growing in Nigeria. Since after 1963, Nigerians have not been allowed to have their say in the way they are being governed. The Igbo are saying it loud and clear that we must have a say in how we are being governed,” he said.
While highlighting the potential of Nigeria in wealth creation and ability to become great, Nwodo referred to the example of Netherlands which he said earns about $18 billion yearly from its agriculture sector.
According to him, the size of Netherlands is not up to the size of Niger State of Nigeria. With fertile land all across Nigeria, Nwodo said restructuring would allow each federating unit to untilise its resources for advantage.
Chief Albert Hosefall, who led a delegation of South-south ethnic groups, also lent the support of his people to the agitation, saying the Yoruba are welcome to the move for resource control.
“We thank you because you have caught the fire of agitation. We don’t want a federation run on unitary system of government,” he said.
The contributions and support of the South-south and Southeast regions widened the scope of the agitation for restructuring in Nigeria. Observers believe that the wind of restructuring blowing across the entire three regions in Southern Nigeria is a call for change which is too strong to be defeated.
However, the new position is a revival of the idea and move by former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2000. Tinubu had established the Southern Governors’ Forum in 2000 with a clear aim of making all the states in Southern Nigeria speak with one voice for the progress of the three regions in particular and Nigeria in general.
The former governor, at the time, looked beyond political party affiliations by extending invitation to all the other 16 governors in the South. Tinubu also added a seat for the governor of Kwara, suggesting that the state is largely southern in composition given that over 70 per cent of those indigenous to Kwara State are Yoruba. Shortly after, the Northern Governors’ Forum was formed.
Though the idea succeeded for a while, political factors and suspicion that Tinubu was trying to force himself as a leader on other governors made the project crumble. But the Ibadan Declaration, which came 16 years after, confirmed that the agitation has always existed in the deep part of the heart of southerners.
This time, the summit, which was chaired by legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), issued a 16-point communique which emphasised the urgent need to practise true federalism. The communique also highlighted the details of the expected reform including fiscal analysis of a restructured Nigeria.
Babalola, who set the tone for the summit, said many of the problems confronting Nigeria currently derived from the partitioning of Africa by the European colonialists for their selfish economic interests.
Tracing Nigeria’s development, the legal icon recalled that the country witnessed its greatest development under the 1963 Constitution.
He said: “Our country’s history is replete with the incontrovertible fact that Nigeria witnessed her greatest and fastest economic, political, social and educational development during self-government and the First Republic. Each of the regions was fairly autonomous and could legislate over a number of items which have, at present, been taken over by the Federal Government. It was during this period that each region began its own regional developmental efforts. There were mutual healthy rivalries to compete for development.”
Drawing the gains of the 1963 period over the current system in a thorough comparison, Babalola said the next generation of Yoruba children will condemn their leaders’ silence if we refuse to speak out and take the right position now.
He emphasised the imperative of restructuring, stressing that the wind of restructuring is blowing over Nigeria.
The lawyer posited that “restructuring would enable each state to control its population, set internationally-acceptable standard for admission to tertiary institutions to ensure quality education, which will, in turn, restore our universities’ glorious years.”
Others who addressed the gathering included National Leader of Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti; Chairman Afenifere Renewal Group, Hon. Wale Oshun; Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose; Femi Fani-Kayode; Chief (Mrs) Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, President-General Yoruba Council of Elders, Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN), Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Tokunbo Ajasin and representatives of the governors of Oyo, Ondo, Ogun and Osun states. They all spoke in favour of restructuring.
The summit was also attended by former Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), Prof. Banji Akintoye, Otunba Deji Osibogun, Senator Gbenga Kaka, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Mr Yinka Odumakin, Yoruba social cultural groups, professional bodies, market leaders, youth groups, friends of the Yoruba nation and Yoruba from Kogi and Kwara states.
