- Yoruba leaders urge federal government to embrace true federalism
- Yoruba leaders lament lack of unity, call for unity to pursue goal of federalism
The federal government was urged yesterday to embrace true federalism to establish regional autonomy, allowing federating units to self-sufficiency.
This advice was given by Yoruba leaders yesterday in Lagos at the 2023 Goke Omisore Annual Lecture (GOAL) with the theme “Southwest Regional Integration: The DAWN Commission Approach,” which was organized by The Voice of Reason (VOR).
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the leader of Afenifere, recalled the late Obafemi Awolowo’s contribution to the development of the Western region, saying that the late sage fought against the colonial unitary constitution.
“Awolowo told the colonial masters that the unitary system of government could not rule Nigeria,” he said.
The Afenifere leader believes that the lack of true federalism will stymie the country’s growth, and he has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to adopt a constitution that embraces federalism.
“All of Awolowo’s theories are still applicable today.” Forget about self-promotion. Allow the new president to change the constitution to a federal system in which each region develops at its own pace,” he said.
Mr Seye Oyeleye, Director-General of Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), lamented the lack of Yoruba unity during his speech as the lecture’s guest speaker.
We see ourselves as people from different states rather than as Yoruba. It is becoming a taboo to appoint someone who is not indigenous to a state into a political position, no matter how deserving the person is.
The shocking part is that even within some states in the South West region, we now discriminate between the ‘home based’ and the ‘Lagos based’. The ‘home-based’ team believe they are more deserving of political appointments than their kinsmen who are ‘Lagos-based’.
We are all witnesses to these anomalies among us and they reinforce what I said earlier that we cannot rely solely on our common language, history and geographical location as the binding force of Yoruba nationalism, he said.
He called for unity among Yoruba leaders to pursue the goal of advocating for federalism
The panellists; Mr Tope Fasua, Dr Segun Aina and Mr Olusoji Awogbade, all called for the development of the western region during the panel discussion.