Following the multiple challenges facing the country, the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Gani Adams has warned that Nigeria may cease to exist within the next two years if nothing is done to remedy the situation.
Adams, who is also Leader of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), stated this during the Okota festival in his Arigidi-Akoko hometown in Ondo State at the weekend.
He bemoaned governance, insecurity and growing poverty in the country, asking the Federal Government to immediately heed the calls for true federalism to save the situation.
His words, “With the security issues in Nigeria, there is nothing that can be done if we do not have federalism. If we do not allow federalism on the basis of regionalism, I’m afraid within two years, this country will break.
“You can see how the waves are coming. Not only a wave of insecurity, even the economy, depreciation of institutions, and lack of coercion in governance. Definitely, there is danger ahead if the government does not act fast to restructure Nigeria to regionalism.
“Regionalism will give the content of regional police, state police and local government police. If you don’t work on the structure, there is no way you can stop insecurity. The structure will give you a way; will give you leverage that you can have effective security. That is what is being done in the United States and many countries that have provinces and regions.
“In the United States, every state has state police and county police, and they have the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), which is the federal police. We borrowed this federalism from the United States in 1979.
“Why are we dodging from reality and we are trying to push a country of about 250 million people into a unitary system, it cannot work. A country that has about 450 ethnic nationalities, it cannot work and that’s one of our problems.”
