An Ibadan Chief, Oloye Taofeek Adegboyega Adegoke, has appealed to President Muhamadu Buhari, to as a matter of urgency, convey a national dialogue.
Adegoke, who is the Ajia Balogun of Ibadanland, noted that the need to convey the national dialogue was necessary in view of the various agitations by groups and individuals calling for secession and restructuring of the country.
recalls that some groups and individuals from southern part of the country had been calling for secession and restructuring of the country.
But, Adegoke while addressing journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, noted that restructuring of the country is not the first thing to do.
He added that the first step to take in order to address various agitations, is a national dialogue where each of the groups will say its mind.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said that the outcome of the national dialogue will determine the next line of action for the country to move forward.
He advised those who are agitating for secession to have a rethink because there are more benefits if Nigeria remains as one.
“A national dialogue where everybody will come together and say his or her mind should be convened urgently.
“So, if we have the national dialogue, we can look at it wether our staying together is to our own benefits or not. To me, you don’t just say restructuring, we need to have a national dialogue first.
“I know that we have one during the time of former President, Goodluck Jonathan, but, where is the report, the book is gathering dust.
“To me, I will tell you that there are a lot of benefits if we are together.”
Adegoke, while speaking further, maintained that Nigeria is currently experiencing many problems because we are not operating federal system of government the way it supposed to be.
“The problem in Nigeria is that we are not actually implementing the federal system of government very well. We are not following it.
“It is unitary system that we are operating. You say that we are running a federal system of government but, states are not in control of resources in thier states.
“That is not how it should be. States will be going to Abuja every month to collect allocation. That is the problem, because states will become lazy because they know that they will collect money in Abuja at the end of the month.”
