Nigeria’s Nobel Prize laureate,
Professor Wole Soyinka has stated that Nigerians need to strip the Federal
government of its power. Mr. Soyinka in the interview granted to the Punch said
that the over centralisation of the government had caused anger among
constituent states. According to him, the policy is insulting and that it
endorses anti-healthy conflict among states.
He said: “We cannot continue to allow a centralisation policy
which makes the constituent units of this nation resentful; they say monkey dey
work, baboon dey chop. And the idea of centralising revenues, allocation
system, whereby you dole out; the thing is insulting and it is what I call
anti-healthy rivalry. It is against the incentives to make states viable. “I am
on the side of those who say we must do everything to avoid disintegration.
That language I understand. I don’t understand (ex-president Olusegun)
Obasanjo’s language. I don’t understand (President Muhammadu) Buhari’s language
and all their predecessors, saying the sovereignty of this nation is
non-negotiable. It’s bloody well negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We
better negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at conferences, but every day in
our conduct towards one another.”
Professor Soyinka said Nigeria could not
continue with a centralisation policy, which fortified what he defined as
“monkey dey work, baboon dey chop” mentality. The popular writer also faulted
the proposal to create grazing reserves for Fulani herdsmen in the country,
noting that rather than do that, ranches, where members of the public could go
to buy cows and goats, should be created. “The word ‘reserve’ is the problem.
If there are ranches, it doesn’t matter where they are built, ranches are a
commercial proposition, it isn’t a Fulani issue. You can create ranches so that
cows, goats could be bought there. This shouldn’t be an instrument of politics,
race or ethnicity,” he said.
Pro-Biafra activists and Niger Delta militants call for the
restructure of Nigeria. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar during the
presentation of the book “We are all Biafrans” also said that what Nigeria
requires most at present is the kick-starting of the process of restructuring
of the federation.
Source: Naija.com
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