Gani Adams, the national coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), a pan-Yoruba group, on Thursday called for true federalism in Nigeria to achieve accelerated development of the country.

Mr Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, made the call while speaking at the 25th  OPC June 12 Lecture in Lagos.

The lecture was titled “June 12 as a Catalyst for National Development: True Federalism and Nigeria’s Integration.”

The June 12, 1993, presidential election was won by the late MKO Abiola but was annulled on June 2 of the same year by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Mr Adams said that without true federalism and proper restructuring, it would be difficult for the country to take its rightful place in the comity of nations.

While describing the annulled election as a watershed in Nigeria’s political history, Mr Adams noted that 32 years later, the country had not made the desired progress due to the absence of true federalism.

“Nigeria is going through various crises today because some leaders are stubbornly against restructuring.

“In honour of Abiola and other martyrs, I want to say pointedly that whether anybody likes it or not, this country will be restructured.

“If this country is restructured in a way that every locality controls the instrumentality of security, backed by intelligence, the wanton killings of Nigerians will stop automatically,” said Mr Adams.

According to him, June 12 should be a catalyst for national development, hence the need for political, economic, electoral, and judicial reforms, without delay, in honour of Mr Abiola.

“Nigeria is destined to be great, but if the attitude of leaders to restructuring and development is negative, Nigeria is going nowhere,” Adams added.

In his keynote address, Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights lawyer, emphasised the significance of June 12 and said the 1999 constitution remained a major setback for the country.

“It means the ability of Nigerians to organise beyond their ethnic division, the triumph of good over evil. It means if a system is bad, Nigerians can defeat that system. June 12 means life and death,” Mr Falana said.

He said the 1999 constitution, drafted by the military, could not actualise the aspirations of the Nigerian people in a democracy.

“This is a major setback for Nigeria, and there is no way we can talk about stability, progress and development,” he said.

On poverty and insecurity bedevilling Nigeria, Mr Falana said there was a need for Nigeria to answer the national question.

Speaking, Joe Okei-Odumakin, the president of Women Arise, said June 12 symbolised ballot integrity and free choice.

Ms Okei-Odumakin, who highlighted electoral malpractice as one of the problems facing Nigeria, said many leaders lacked legitimacy and could not inspire desired progress.

The activist, while applauding leaders like Obafemi Awolowo, said, “If Abiola had been allowed to become the president, we would have had fiscal federalism, restructuring and other policies to end the groanings of ordinary Nigerians.”

On integration, Ms Okei-Odumakin called on President Bola Tinubu to make a posthumous declaration of Mr Abiola as a past president of Nigeria.

Debo Adeniran, the national president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), said June 12 should be renamed MKO Abiola Day rather than Democracy Day.

(NAN)