A coalition of Yoruba youth organisations has advised delegates to the National Conference to negotiate the future of Nigeria and set it on the path of development.
At the unveiling of a publication, “Regional Autonomy…or Nothing”, at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos, yesterday, Prince Tokunbo Ajasin, son of the first civilian governor of Ondo State, the late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, said the pan-Yoruba groups, led by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), are convinced that regionalism is the most viable instrument for a stronger and united Nigeria.
Ajasin said anybody who does not want a change in the statues quo does not wish the country well.
He said it was inconceivable that northern leaders were leading the campaign against the devolution of power and restructuring of government, adding that it is either regional autonomy or nothing for the Yoruba.
Ajasin said: “If any region needs a stronger federating unit with greater capacity to provide education, health, security, wealth creation and other social amenities, it is the North where strong links exist between poverty and the conscription of innocent youths into extremist tendencies. It appears Northern leaders are not concerned and have no plan for the teeming youths in the region, as long as they are able to continue clinging to their hold on power.”
Listing the demands of the Yoruba as contained in the publication, he said states in Yoruba land want a regional government with its constitution and unfettered political and fiscal autonomy, except on issues it agrees to cede to the Federal Government.
Ajasin said: “The Southwest must include all Yoruba people outside the imposed artificial boundaries in Edo, Delta, Kogi and Kwara states.”
Other demands include: a negotiated legislative Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual list; a unicameral legislature at the centre; a parliamentary form of government at the centre; the right to self-determination or the right to secede; establishment of regional police; fiscal federalism and resource control; and a special status for Lagos.
They also want the outcome of the 2014 National Conference to form the basis for a new constitution.
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