- Nigerian University Students at Enugu
BY GODWIN OBI
The leader of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and other eminent leaders of thought, yesterday, renewed the call for the restructuring of the country to achieve a true federal structure.
This call was contained in the messages of goodwill delivered at the presentation of the book entitled “Brutally Frank,” an autobiography of the foremost Ijaw leader and national statesman, Chief E.K Clark, at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Adebanjo, who was the Father of the Day, while speaking at the event declared that “until we change this constitution, we will go nowhere.”
His words: “I came closer to Clark at the 2014 national conference. We were in the same row of old people. You could see knowledge, experience, and patriotism in the contribution of these old people. I want to advise those of you who are younger not to play with the report of the 2014 national conference. Whether you like it or not, that conference will go down in history as the best thing former President Goodluck Jonathan did for this country. And I say it publicly again without any fear of contradiction that you can never get the kind of composition that was recorded in that conference again in Nigeria. It cuts across every segment of the country. And we were lucky to have a chairman who managed delicate issues effectively.
“The job for us in this country today is to insist that right now, the constitution of the country must be changed to a federal constitution in accordance with the report of the 2014 National Conference. Take that report, take El-Rufai’s report, set up a committee to reconcile them, and go where we are going. Any other thing is pretence.
“When you talk about the unity of this country, the economic progress of this country, until we change this constitution, we will go nowhere.”
He described Clark as a true nationalist and a personality to behold. “He is a nationalist, a patriot, and a committed man to a united Nigeria. Clark is not a converted nationalist. When you read the book, you will know that nationalism and patriotism is inborn. When you go through the book, you will see how Nigeria was until we got to this stage. It is a compendium of what Nigeria was and what we wish it to be.
Prof Anya O. Anya also added his voice, saying the implementation of the 2014 confab was the only sure way to achieve the desired restructuring of the country and true federalism.
He said: “I came across Edwin Clark at the 2014 national conference and that was when I discovered that you cannot describe him in one or two sentences because the man is multi-dimensional. But one thing you cannot take away from him is the fact he loves this country.
“I am confident that one day, the report of the national conference will be fully implemented. And the reason is simple. There were over 600 decisions and every single one enjoyed the support of more than 70 per cent of those attending. Would you really think that it was possible to have Nigerians gathered as we were gathered and all decisions enjoyed 70 per cent support? You wouldn’t have thought it was possible but it happened. That is why I believe that ultimately, we will find our way back.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria would fulfill its destiny among the comity of nations. “Let me say this to the young generation. Do not lose confidence in Nigeria. Nigeria is a great country. Nigeria is a destined country. It will get to the point where, as some of my spiritual advisers tell me, Nigeria will be celebrated for righteousness. This period we are seeing now is not Nigeria. When I tell some of the younger people about my experience in Nigeria, they don’t believe that the Nigeria that I was describing that I had lived existed. But it exists and because it did exist.”
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2023-11-25
