By JOY ANIGBOGU

Are Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams has said that the Yoruba nation has gone beyond restructuring, and currently pressing for self determination.

Adams maintained that the unfolding events happening in Yorubaland has made him to be reluctant to speak on restructuring, pointing out that the opinion of Yoruba people is that they have graduated from restructuring to self-determination.

Are spoke on Wednesday at a book launch themed: “Roundtable Discussion on Economy and Restructuring in Nigeria”.

He said, “In my view, we have graduated from the restructuring that we have been clamouring for since 1991 to self-determination and one of the reasons behind that is that the powerful block politically in Nigeria is not ready for restructuring and if Nigeria is not reorganised within three years, I suspect the country is heading to a state of bleak.”

The Yoruba leader said that even though they can be room for negotiate in future for restructuring. He stressed that it would be important to define restructuring.

“They can talk about stateism and skewed federalism but federalism is now, and even if Nigeria decides to restructure now, we must have to borrow the content in our constitution in 1960 and 1963. How we started as a Nigeria. We had a constitution before our Independence. If we must restructuring, we have to borrow the content of the constitution that presented Nigeria as a nation in 1960 and our Republic constitution in 1963. It gave room for regionalism, allowed the federating units to thrive. It gave room to the federation units to develop at their own pace.

“We had six federating units that were agreed in the constitutional conference in 1995. The minimum demand from the Yoruba nation, if we must talk restructuring is that the six regions must operate as federating units."

He, however, said, there could be room for negotiation, pointing out that the country must be sincere about restructuring “In war, we can prepare for negotiating, after war-war, you can now jaw-jaw on the negotiation table because politics is about the locality.

“People talk about unity and stop others from discussing their locality, that is definitely not unity. They don’t want me to talk about my local government and community, everything about politics is local. If we must move Nigeria forward, it must either be self-determination or regionalism and must allow for confederation. We are a county but not a nation because if you are living on the basis of mutual suspicion you are not a nation but a country,” Adams said. (Daily Independent)

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