Ndubuisi Ugah and Baba Negedu 
…it’s an agenda of Action Group supporters
•They’ve not revealed what they truly want
A former Liaison Officer to the late President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai; and a Second Republic member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Junaid Mohamme, have faulted calls for restructuring by a Yoruba group, saying it is a ploy for secession.
The duo’s comments followed the threat by the group that, without restructuring, there won’t be 2023 elections. The Yoruba Summit Group (YSG) had also set a timeframe for the restructuring of the nation. But the two Northerners would have nothing of such, as they alleged that the Yoruba group’s position amounted to an inimical agenda by the South-West. However, a youth group in the South-East, the Igbo Youths Movement (IYM), differed with Yakassai and Mohammed, urging Nigerians from every region to support the call by the YSG for early restructuring of Nigeria in order to save the country.
The YSG had indicated in a communiqué issued and signed by Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, with the strong support of 25 prominent sons and daughters of the Yoruba nation, that unless Nigeria’s social, political and economy were restructured in line with the Independence Constitution of 1960, the unity, peace and development of Nigeria would continue to be a dream that would never be achieved. The Yoruba leaders, which included, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, late Chief Ayo Fasoranti, Prof. Banji Akintoye, HRH Kabiesi Oba Dipo Olaitan, Aare Iba Gani Adams, Dr. Olufemi Adegoke, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, George Akinola, Dr. Amos Akingba, Yinka Odumakin, and others, had requested President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure Nigeria fiscally and structurally before the 2023 general election in the interest of national peace and unity.
They warned that unless this peaceful step was heeded and that Nigeria heads in the right direction thereafter, “the clear alternative would be for self-determination quests to proceed rapidly without any further restraint.” The leaders warned that the current federal structure could no longer sustain the unity of the federation, pointing out that Southern Nigerian alone “contributes 90 per cent of the country’s revenue to the federation account.” Speaking in an interview with Saturday Telegraph, Yakassai said in as much as every Nigerian is entitled to his or her opinion, such rights should not be misconstrued and abused in whatever context.
He said: “They are Nigerians and are entitled to their opinion, but what we know is that many of them are remnants of the Action Group and supporters who are still carrying this secessionist mantra. “Lately I realise that what the younger Nigerians need is to be patient, because in the next five to 10 years, we are praying to God we will leave the country for the younger ones to be take charge of the country.
“But you cannot stop any one from talking because they have been doing that for years. But that does not mean that it is the view of the majority of Nigerians.” Yakassai, who also spoke recently in an interview on a television programme monitored in Lagos, had canvassed for Igbo presidency in 2023, saying the South-East zone remained the only part of the country yet to produce a President. “I have a lot of sympathies for the Igbos as far as producing a president for Nigeria is concerned.
The South-West, South-South and the North have all tasted it but the South East has not tasted the presidency,” he said in an interview with a national newspaper recently. But, speaking with Saturday Telegraph, he said: “I want to emphasise also that those that are speaking are not mandated by the Yoruba people as a whole to speak on their behalf. These are individuals or group of individuals and they are speaking because the constitution has guaranteed them that to speak, whether good or bad.
“Look, I know them or let me say I know many of them, they have this tendency all along. Some of you are young men, you don’t know. But I know. So, what am saying is let the younger ones be patient.” However, Mohammed in a separate interview with Saturday Telegraph, queried the validity of the restructuring call, insisting that those championing the cause should show sincerity in the clamour. Mohammed said: “Have they told us what they really mean by restructuring? And what kind of restructuring that they want? If we don’t know, do they want us to commit to their own brand of restructuring before they even make it public? They should tell us exactly what they want.” Meanwhile, the Founder of IYM, Evang. Elliot Ugochukwu- Uko, in his comment, said Nigeria was at a crossroads and warned that only the truth can save the country.
He said: “For how much longer do we have to continue the self-deception and false hope? Our country isn’t working and will never work this way. What are we waiting for? “Delay in restructuring Nigeria is a great disservice to the fatherland; which is why I plead with Nigerians from every region to identify with and support the recent call by the Yoruba Summit Group for all to join hands and drive the early restructuring of Nigeria in order to save Nigeria. Time is running out.”
