The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has hit out at the Federal Government’s Federal character policy and has urged them to go back to the old Regional system which was in place pre-1966 stating that the practise of Federal Character was one which wasn’t helping the nation.
The monarch said this while at a conference organised by Yoruba KO’YA Movement in Oyo State on Tuesday.
The event, was attended by the like of the Aare Onakakafo of Yoruba Land, Aare Gani Adams; Retired Arch-Bishop of Methodist Church, Ayo Ladigbolu; retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Tunji Alapini; eminent scholar, Professor Wale Fatunde, media entrepreneur, Otunba ‘Deji Osibogun and a host of other Yoruba groups.
The event was also largely focused on the Fulani Herdsmen and the menace they pose in the country.
The Alaafin said: “Regionalism is the way out; the current quasi-federal system of government would continue to promote hunger, ethnic intimidation, religion intolerance, infrastructure decadence. I demand for a return to where we were before 1966.
“Before the military coup of 1966 spearheaded mainly by the northerners, what we had was a regional system of government where every region controls their resources; but after they took over, they moved everything away from the region to the centre, rendering thee region powerless.”
The Alaafin harkened back to the days when the Yoruba were front and center of happenings in Nigeria but he said things changed when “the northern soldiers came and destroyed everything; they said no more regionalism, they deceived Nigerians by establishing federal character which schemed out merit, they created Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which is now causing ‘Ijamba’ to Nigerians”.
The Monarch added: “Today, a Yoruba man will score 240 while a Hausa man will score 120, yet they are both offered admission to study same course in the same university, they created educationally dis-advantaged states to their favour. Enough is enough.”
After the Alaafin’s speech, Arch-bishop Ayo Ladigbolu took to the stage and reminded everyone about a Judgement passed by Justice Adewale Thompson in 1969, which declared open field grazing as criminal.
“The Fulani herdsmen did not just start destroying farms today,” he said. “They have been doing that for over 40 decades. In April, 1969 Judge Adewale Thompson at Abeokuta Divisional high court with suit number AB/26/66.”
According to Ladigbolu the judgment by the judge went thus: “I do not accept of the defendant that a custom exists, which imposes an obligation on the owner of the farm to fence his farm whilst the owner of the cattle allows his cattle to wander like pest and cause danage. Such a custom, if it exists, is unreasonbale and I hold that [it] is repurgenate to natural justice, eguity and good conscience. It is highly unreasonable to place the burden of fencing a farm on the farmer without also corresponding obligation on the cattle owner to fence his cattle. Sequel to that, I ban open grazing for its implications to peace and tranquilty and the cattle owners must fence or ranch their animals for peace to reign.”