The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi said on Sunday that despite several agitations by various groups, nobody actually wants Nigeria to break up.
He said the agitators only want a country that works for all.
Fayemi who spoke to journalists in Lagos on Sunday as part of activities to mark the celebration of the second year of his second term in office noted that for Nigeria to surmount the plethora of challenges threatening its very fabric as a nation, it must embrace true federalism.
“True federalism is the answer,” to most of the challenges Nigeria was grappling with at the moment. He noted that the onus was on the National Assembly to look at the previous reports of National Conferences.
He said many recommendations along the line of restructuring, devolution, and true federalism were embedded in the reports of the Niki Tobi Panel, the 2004 Conference set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the 2014 conference established by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “We must confront our reality as a federation. The current structure is supportive of unitarist model. The state structure, for now, is problematic. There is a need to move towards devolution, not only of functions but also resources.”
The Ekiti state governor also said it was imperative for the nation to decentralise security, noting the actualisation of the Southwest outfit, Amotekun, and efforts by the Federal Government to kick off community policing were working in this direction.
He also described as false insinuations in some quarters that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had jettisoned its promise to restructure Nigeria.
He noted that as a demonstration of its commitment to the issue, the party set up the El-Rufai Committee to make recommendations to its leadership.
According to him, the panel has since submitted its report, and “concrete steps had been made to make proposals to the National Assembly.”
He also said the Senator Ovie Omo-Agege -led Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution will soon commence its activities and was sure to capture relevant recommendations for legislative action.
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