Insecurity: Afenifere Demands Timeline On Restructuring
The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Thursday, called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to make public the timeline for a return to federalism where regions will have the autonomy to run its internal affairs.
This came as founder, Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola declared that the immediate solution to myriad of problems confronting Nigeria is the restructuring of the Constitution and a return to the 1960 and 1963 constitutions with some amendments.
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who addressed newsmen to state the group’s position on the killing of Mrs. Olufunke Olakunri, daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, said the South West region can no longer live under the present condition whereby blood of innocent people are used to water the tree of a dysfunctional unitary order.
Adebanjo said: “Our Yoruba region has witnessed serial attacks from the Fulani herdsmen/militia in forms of rape of our women, kidnap of our people for ransom and killings of innocent people.
“We are miffed that those who will not allow our elected governors to have police are now setting up Fulani vigilantes on our soil in addition to the Fulani militias terrorising our land.
“We demand their immediate exit from Yoruba land and if they refused to leave in a reasonable time, we will not stop our people from confronting them.
“While every life lost to these marauders is a deep wound in our hearts, the mindless killing of Mrs. Olufunke Olakunri took everyone by surprise and dealt a devastating blow to the Yoruba nation in particular and all our friends who value human life across Nigeria.
“We must say that the submission by the presidency a few hours after the incident that Funke was killed by armed robbers is very ridiculous as her jewelry, money and other personal effects were intact. This follows the usual pattern of always shielding a particular group of crimes whenever they are accused instead of allowing the justice system take its course.
“We, hereby, hold the Federal Government responsible and accountable for the senseless killing of a law-abiding citizen. The government has failed in its primary duty of providing security for life and property.”
Similarly, Babalola posited that the nation stands to gain immensely if the constitution is restructured, saying it will enable the nation to have a truly people’s federal constitution.
The legal luminary said this at the international conference of the Nigerian Society for Finance Research held at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. He said restructuring of the constitution “will ensure that we have part-time legislation, reduce the huge salaries currently being earned by our legislators in favour of sitting allowances as we had during the First Republic.
It will ensure that we have two political parties and reduce the cost of governance. It will ensure we run our elections at cheaper rates while women representation in governance will be higher.” Also, he said: “Our constitution, which is unitary in the garb of a federal constitution foisted on us by the Military and christened a people’s constitution, is the greatest problem of Nigeria today.”
“Take it or leave it, Nigeria is a country of nations. We have to harmonize these Nations and allow a Nation to evolve from the way we run the government.
“Any person who is in doubt about the efficacy of those constitutions and the advantages of the Parliamentary System of Government over the Presidential System of Government should go into the history of the rapid development and cohesion that existed between 1950 and 1966. The facts are there and they speak for themselves.”