The Western Regional Organization (WRO), an assembly of 125 leaders representing 26 Yoruba divisions in Nigeria, urgently calls on President Bola Tinubu to restore the country to a regional government. We believe this is the only solution to the current hunger and despair occasioned by an unworkable and overbearing federal government in the country.
At a plenary meeting yesterday, the WRO reviewed the plight of the Yoruba people since the protest of bad government. We stand firm in our belief that the Yoruba people are worse off after the violent jettisoning of the proper federal system as practiced during the first republic.
We are committed to restarting the clock of positive development in the Western Region, which we believe stopped on January 15, 1966, and to address the root causes of the current poverty and want in the land.
The WRO firmly believes that all Yoruba must work towards dismantling the current centralized system and reinstating regions as the primary development units. We fear that failure to do so will increase hunger and poverty in the land and hasten the country’s dissolution.
The WRO strongly condemned the Northern Elders Stakeholders’ support for a sustained Nationwide Protest against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Their seven-point demand is misguided, and we call for a united rebuke from all Nigerians. It is even more deplorable that this group is fomenting unrest in the north, advocating for a military takeover, and parading the streets with Russian flags.
The Western Region Organization (WRO), a group advocating for a return to the pre-1966 system of government in Nigeria, considers the move hypocritical, ill-conceived, and thoughtless. We question the group’s motive without reservation. Where were these northern stakeholders when General Buhari was at the helm of the Nigerian government, during which he ran the Nigerian government to the ground? Did this group ever call for protest and present him with any demands? Did any of the stakeholders ever question Buhari’s profligate borrowing?
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Our role here is not to advocate for the Tinubu administration. We are concerned that the administration is balking at the very ladder that can give the nation the highest lift. The President must start, without any delays, the process of returning to the system of government that all segments of Nigeria agreed to before and immediately after independence. This, we believe, will not only return Nigeria to the path of progress and development, but it will also forever expose the Northern leaders as the enemies of their people for usurping the funds meant for the development of their region.
The WRO condemns the unpatriotic acts of the Northern Youths, which we believe were instigated as they went on the rampage, destroying both private and government properties. Their actions became bizarre as they were recorded waving Russian flags and calling on the leader of Russia to interfere in Nigerian internal affairs.
We call on the Northern Stakeholders to reverse course and pursue reasonable paths of peace and negotiation. Undoubtedly, we support the call for meaningful reforms, which must include a return to the regional system of government negotiated and agreed upon by Nigeria’s founding founders.
It is important to note that Sir Ahmadu Bello, a respected northern leader, firmly believed in autonomous regions in Nigeria. He agreed with esteemed leaders such as Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and others to back the regional government, which some adventurers in the military scuttled in 1966.
For Nigeria to achieve political and economic success, it must adopt a regional system of government in which each region manages its resources and affairs. We believe this will promote competition, efficiency, and effective resource management.
We blame Nigeria’s lack of progress on the Unitary System of government. We note that all regions before 1966 were doing well, effectively managing their resources and taking good care of their citizens without a bloated federal government interfering.
The WRO noted with concern attempts by some disgruntled Northern leaders to bring the military back to power through the backdoor. We want to state without equivocation that such a move will be resisted. The military was responsible for replacing the workable regional system of government with an unworkable unitary system, which has spread poverty because of Nigeria’s lack of development over the years.
We doubt if Nigeria can ever survive another military regime. We consider the protesting youths as victims of military incursion and misadventure into politics.
