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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

‘Yoruba leaders call for regional autonomy, not secession’

Vanguard News
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'Yoruba leaders call for regional autonomy, not secession'
Sep 4th 2012, 16:00

Lagos – Mr Segun Olulade, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), on Tuesday said the call by some Yoruba leaders for regional autonomy would not disintegrate Nigeria.

Olulade of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN-Epe I), made the remark in an interview in Ikeja.

NAN recalls that the Yoruba Elders’ Forum recently in Ibadan advocated regional autonomy, which was vehemently opposed by the Northern leaders.

The northern leaders said the call by the Yoruba Forum was capable of throwing the country into crises and disintegration.

The Forum, chaired by Retired Lt.- Gen. Alani Akinrinade, also called for a reversion to the parliamentary system of government, because the presidential system was too expensive for Nigeria.

''The Northern leaders should not misunderstand the call by the Yoruba leaders.

''Our problem in this country is that we always attach ethnicity and religious sentiments to issues; this cannot bring about development in the nation.

"Whenever people come up with a decision, some people see it as an attack, instead of developing the ideas for progressive purpose,'' the lawmaker said.

Olulade, the Chairman Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, said the best way to redress the imbalance was for the Federal Government to give additional autonomy to the state governments.

The assemblyman said such a move would fast-track development of infrastructure in the country, and would also curb security challenges.

"We have so many abandoned roads in the country belonging to the Federal Government.

“And these are some of the reasons some Nigerians are calling for a  break-up because of negligence and lack of maintenance on these infrastructure.

“The Federal Government must hand over some of these projects to the state governments for proper rehabilitation and maintenance, to bring about even development of infrastructure in Nigeria,'' he said.

Olulade said the country’s greatest problem was the poor implementation of the budget and government policies, not the presidential system of government.

He said if the budgets were implemented accordingly, the country would not be experiencing a decay in the economy, security challenges, and poor  infrastructure.

''It is not about system of government but the attitude and mentality of people towards development.

“We have practised parliamentary system of government some years back in this country, and to some people, it failed.

“It's only true federalism that will work out in this country,'' the lawmaker said.. (NAN)

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