A coalition called the Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movements (AYDM) has listed two key steps that should be taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to kick-start the restructuring of the country.
It identified the steps to include ensuring that each Divisional Police Officer (DPO) is from the state of his jurisdiction and that state police commissioner is at least from the region where the state is located.
AYDM comprises more than 130 pan-Yoruba and community-based groups in largely Yoruba territories, including Kwara, Kogi, Akoko Edo and Itsekiri parts of Delta State.
Secretary General of the coalition, Comrade Popoola Ajayi, highlighted the factors following the frenzied demand for restructuring of the country.
He said the report of the Mallam Nasir el-Rafai -led committee on devolution of power set up by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2017 should enrich the process while a road map to fully return the country to a federal system of government as negotiated by our founding fathers is worked out.
Popoola said restructuring was not difficult as being portrayed, expressing concern that the country had been deluding itself since 1999 and had, therefore, “paid dearly for the delay.”
He added that the general insecurity, in the country and the defect in community protection which have led to food insecurity, rural-urban migration, destruction of sacred forest, among others, reflect the unwillingness to restructured, urging the country “to take the bull by the horn.”
The AYDM secretary said what was being done in Nigeria amounted to building a strong centre and weakening the federating units, which he observed amounted to building a house from the rooftop.
He called on President Tinubu to take the low hanging fruits by ensuring, for a start, that, “each Police DPO is from the state and that State Police Commissioners are at least from the region where the state is located.”
“Time is running out. The country is increasingly fragile.
“We need to act before it is too late. Restructuring will make Nigeria to endure, the lack of it may eventually lead to total collapse of institutions and greater violence,” he warned.
