Nigeria must return to true federalism — Adebanjo

Leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, on Thursday, reiterated the call for a return to true federalism.

This, he said, was the panacea for the imbalance and injustice in the current political arrangement in the land.

Adebanjo said this during a television programme on BCOS in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, monitored by our correspondent.

The elder statesman said, “The beginning of our problem in this country was the military coup of 1966. The people who want to do mischief, particularly our brothers from the North, are cheating us under the present structure imposed on us by the military in 1966.

“As long as that constitution exists, those of us in the South, who took part in the founding of this nation under our constitutional democracy, would not accept it.”

“The constitution created local government councils through which they distribute resources. The North is in the advantaged position by the creation of that constitution.

“This is a country where a section is imposing its will on the rest. They are using false population (figures) to claim the majority of seats in the parliament. Return to genuine federal structure is imperative in order to liberate the rest of the country from servitude.”

He accused some Yoruba leaders in the All Progressives Congress of failing to speak truth to power.