The defacto leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Otunba Gani Adams has echoed the call of the Yoruba for the restricting of Nigeria while advocating for the Yoruba nation to consider a paradigm shift that takes issues affecting the country as a whole into consideration.
Otunba Gani Adams made this call while speaking at a two-day Summit and interactive session of the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) in Hamburg Germany.
Otunba Gani said;
“As the 2019 general elections draw nearer, there is the need for the Yoruba to adopt a new paradigm shift.
The word, restructuring, simply means reorganization, not disintegration. Our position on this is clear and that is Nigeria cannot afford to isolate itself from the rest of the world.
For years, patriotic Nigerians have been agitating for restructuring, but a few elements in the country are against it. As far as I am concerned, those calling for restructuring should not be seen as enemies of the state but partners in progress.”
The OPC leader further expressed his displeasure at the desecration of the sanctity of the traditional institution of the Yoruba by certain individuals whom, he said, arrogate to themselves the position of a Yoruba Oba in the Diaspora.
“Our traditional institution is sacred and we won’t allow anybody to tarnish the image, even as we urge all the Yoruba Obas in their respective states to condemn the abominable act.” He said.
Aare Adams, who had earlier met with the Nigeria Ambassador in Berlin, Mrs. Mobolaji Sakirat Ogundero, echoed that part of the contending issues discussed at the summit included the restructuring of Nigeria, as well as the decentralization of security, finance, education and infrastructure which allows each federating unit to develop at their own pace.
Read the full text of his communiqué at the event which had in attendance members from 84 countries worldwide as well as other prominent Yoruba groups.
- Yoruba Culture and Tradition, dating back to centuries, must never be desecrated on the premise of modernisation.
- The summit condemns any Yoruba who refers to himself as an Oba in Diaspora. Any Yoruba can be leader of Yoruba organisation, group or association but it is against Yoruba Culture to refer to yourself as Oba in Diaspora. Our traditional institution is sacred and we won’t allow anybody tarnish our image. We urge Yoruba Obas to condemn this in its entirety.
On the urgent need to restructure Nigeria, the summit notes: - Restructuring simply means reorganisation, not disintegration
- Nigeria, as a sovereign country blessed with human and natural resources, should be a first-class state in the comity of nations
- Nigeria, as the most-populous black nation, should be leading the crusade for restructuring globally
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- Recent inventions globally have clearly shown that restructuring is the only way out of the crisis in Nigeria
- For years, patriotic Nigerians have been agitating for restructuring but a few elements in the society are against this for selfish reasons
- Those calling for restructuring should not be seen as enemies of state but as partners in progress.
- Whether now or later, restructuring is a must if the country must move forward
- APC is the ruling party in the country and it must fulfil one of its promises – restructuring – which it made before it got into office in 2015
- Diversification is another name for restructuring which should be implemented immediately
- This is due to the fact that many countries will change from petrol/diesel vehicles to electric-only vehicles soon
- The big question our leaders should answer is: when this happens, what happens to our oil?
- When majority of countries in the Western world have no need to buy our oil, how will governors who send their Finance Commissioners to Abuja every month, pay salaries?
- Those kicking against the idea of restructuring should be seen as enemies of the country.
- Governance in Nigeria – security, monetary policy, resources, education, infrastructure, etc – must be decentralised for Nigerians to have a sense of belonging
- If this is not done soon, there will be no justice, equity and fairness in the polity and it will continue to lead to resistance.
- Nigeria cannot afford to isolate itself from the rest of the world in upward development trajectory.
- The time for restructuring is now.