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Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, Olufemi Otubanjo and other personalities have called on the Federal Government to restructure the country.
The duo and others, including Kolawole Raheem, Debo Adekoya, Adedokun Ademiluyi, Abike Ade and Adesegun Dosumu spoke during a Yoruba One Voice (YOV)’s international conference, held via Zoom.
The conference with the topic: “Yorubaland bleeding on the scourge of kidnappers: Proffering solution to security threats,” was the first in the year. It had over 300 people in attendance, shared to over 5,000 online platforms across the globe.
Adams, grand patron of the Yoruba diaspora organisation, said the spate of insecurity in Nigeria and the South West in particular was alarming, adding that the best option for the Federal Government is to restructure the country using a parliamentary system of government.
“Restructuring is the best solution to the structural imbalances of Nigeria. With the parliamentary system of government every region will be at liberty to address its political and socio- economic problem and the central will be vibrant.
“With regional governments across the six geo-political zones, Nigeria will explore the beauty of our diversity; and there will be effective competitions and healthy rivalries among the various regions,” he said.
The guest lecturer, Olufemi Otubanjo, professor of political science, University of Lagos, highlighted the need to be proactive in securing the South West, adding there is need to identify the possible threats in various environments.
The don also described the seven types of threats, saying both Internal and external threats were existential to human nature.
“Threats are heterogeneous. Human beings are products of various social and environmental threats that are either internal or external, depending on our ability to identify those threats.
“As human beings, we are also liable to threats that are occasioned by many factors such as both human and environmental.
“Yorubaland is, no doubt, bleeding, and the best we can do now is to be proactive by being conscious of the threats and also plan against those threats by looking at possible solutions to combating the scourge of kidnappings across Yorubaland.
“We should evolve a mitigation strategy that can help in reducing the kidnapping scourge across the South West.”
Meanwhile, Adekoya spoke about Nigeria’s economy and country’s increasing debt profile.
He said former president Muhammdu Buhari left the country on May 29, 2023 with an external debt of $47 billion.
YOV General Secretary, Ademiluyi, said the Yoruba organisation will continue to pursue the ideology of a true, fair and just society, where all Yoruba will be liberated.
“We will never relent in our efforts to seek good government across Yorubaland because that is the ideal of our organisation.
Abike Ade urged the Federal Government to address the present economic hardship in the country.
“The current hardship has also dealt a deep blow on us. Many of our families back home are affected and nobody is spared.
“There is a need for the Federal Government to look inwards and see how it can salvage the situation. Nigeria is going through a lot of challenges. The security deficit is affecting us, as well as the poor economy and nobody is spared,” se said.
