Elder statesman, Chief Ayo Opadokun has bared his mind on the state of the nation.
“Nigerians are agitating for resource control; people are talking about restructuring; others are calling for an independent state of Biafra; people are talking about Oodua Republic and so on. When it gets to this kind of situation anywhere in the world, sane people should appreciate that it is time to sit down to renegotiate. I am for restructuring and I am campaigning rigorously for it.”
“I have been a leading advocate for national restructuring. In fact, two critical objectives of NADECO were for the convocation of a national conference so that we can restructure. The second was for the de-annulment of Abiola’s victory. If the current political operators do not see it that way, certain things, certain events, certain forces will compel them to accept the reality. They will be forced to accept the fact that the country cannot take off at all until they restore Nigeria to the federal arrangement upon which we secured the independence of Nigeria.”
“Nigeria secured its independence on a federal arrangement. But, having regard to the military organogram where power flows from the top to the bottom, the federal constitution was abrogated. That is the source of our crisis and I am saying, the first thing that we must is to turn to the 1963 constitution. Then, all other things that were agreed upon in the Babangida, General Sani Abacha, Obasanjo and former President Goodluck Jonathan’s conferences, should be implemented based on the 1963 constitution.”
“It is in that conference that they will be able to resolve two critical questions: one, do national ethnic groups want to be part of Nigeria? That question has not been asked. We have not been given the privilege of responding to that question as a people. The colonial master used force of arms to force us into co-existence in what is called Nigeria. And, just five years after they left, the politicians in military uniform took over and since then, they have kept us with the force of arms to co-exist – the co-existence is not voluntary.”
“Perhaps, because of long period of relationship, the response to the first question will be ‘Yes’. The second question that must be answered, if we are going to live together peacefully in this country is, ‘On what terms will our co-existence be?’ What will be the modus operandi? What will be the rules of engagement? It is when we can answer those questions – summed up together as a national question – that we can agree on the body of rules that will govern us. Based on that we can now write our constitution; a home-grown constitution called autochthonous constitution. Right now, we don’t have one.”
“I don’t subscribe to the 1999 constitution because it makes me a permanently minority man. I am from Offa; a typical Yoruba town. It is the traditional headquarters of Ibolo people. And, Ibolo people are from Offa to Iwo. But that town was ceded to the North – that makes me a northerner. If they are sharing anything in Kaduna and I show up, I will be told that I am a Yoruba man. If something is being shared in Lagos or Ibadan and I show up, I will be told I am a northerner. So, I am permanently disadvantaged.”
– Culled from The Punch