From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Council of Yoruba Elders (CYE) has made a bold call to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to utilise the report of the 2014 Confab, convened by former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to restructure Nigeria.
The council said it is time for the Federal Government to heed the call for restructuring and make meaningful changes that will benefit all Nigerians in the long run.
The CYE, in a press statement, endorsed by the Secretary-General of the council, Dr. Victor Taiwo, and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lanre Ogundipe, released on Wednesday, highlighted the benefits of such a move, stating that it could make Tinubu the best leader the country has ever had.
The CYE disclosed that the decision was made at a meeting of the Global Executive Council of the CYE on November 18, 2023, and further discussed at the General Assembly on November 19, 2023.
The pressing issues discussed at the meetings, according to the statement, revolved around the state of the Nigerian economy, insecurity, the skyrocketing inflation rates, unemployment, electricity shortages, unaffordable healthcare, and the fuel crisis.
The CYE expressed deep concern over the suffering and hopelessness experienced by the Nigerian people, which has led to a devastating rise in suicides and deaths by hunger.
Specifically addressing the security situation, the CYE denounced the alarming rate of herdsmen attacks on farmers, the destruction of farmlands, and the indiscriminate killings and abductions in Ondo and Oyo States. They also expressed distress over the rampant armed robberies sweeping the nation.
The CYE advocated the dire need for the restructuring of Nigeria, as it would enable the country to maximise its intellectual and other resources to improve the lives of its people.
In this regard, the council called on Tinubu to excavate the 2014 Confab report, which was said to have been disregarded by former President Muhammadu Buhari, and called on the Yoruba delegates who participated in the Confab to unite in pushing for its implementation.
The CYE also recognised Tinubu’s efforts in improving the country and acknowledged the challenges inherited from past governments. However, they emphasized that it was time for the highly progressive and intellectual Yoruba people to rise above the current predicament and work towards a better future.
In the statement, the CYE announced its support for Tinubu and listed a number of influential Yoruba figures who should join a mass committee to drive the restructuring process. The council also called on all other nationalities to also support the initiative.
The press statement read in part: “Now, we of this Council of Yoruba Elders(CYE) have determined to change the tide for the total turn-around of our situation by clamouring anew for the restructuring of the country, whose agitation President Tinubu was very much a part of before he became the president.
“We, therefore, resolved that the only way out of the geo-political bastardy and economic menace we are battling with in the country is the restructuring of the country, whose renewed efforts we are launching out today.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this one thing we request of you: In the year 2014, the then President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the 492-member Nigeria’s National Conference to determine or negotiate the continued existence of Nigeria, which some silly minds regarded as non-negotiable.
“The Confab was headed by the then Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, and deputied by our own star man, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi. About N10billion was said to have been sunk into the charade. Wait a minute; is it truly a charade? Yes, that was how former President Muhammadu Buhari saw it, which was why he swept the report under the carpet. But do the members of the Confab agree to Buhari’s position? We do not think they should.
“This is why the Council of Yoruba Elders is now calling on all the delegates of Yoruba extraction who took part in the Confab to rise in unison, excavate the report, put it on the table for us to examine and see how much it will benefit the progressive Yoruba people.
“Should President Tinubu offer to excavate the report of the Confab towards the restructuring of the country, he would have turned out the best president Nigeria ever had.
“We, therefore, call on all other nationalities to join us on this exercise of re-positioning the country into a more prospective arrangement, which will benefit us all at the long run.”