Pro-democracy Leaders Demand Restructuring of Nigeria

In Lagos, pro-democracy leaders called on President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate the process of restructuring Nigeria to end the inequality and injustice that had characterised the country’s federal structure.

The pro-democracy actors, who converged on LTV 8 Complex, Agidingbi, also demanded that Buhari should declare Abiola as the elected president of Nigeria.

The leaders that made the demands included Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER) Ayo Opadokun, and a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd), among others.

At an event organised by the Lagos State Office of Civic Engagement, Opadokun said Nigeria would not get out of the woods if it did not restructure its skewed federal structure. “June 12 will continue to be relevant until we end inequality and unfairness in our federation,” he said.

He said it was unfortunate that past presidents, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, despite being a beneficiary of the June 12 struggle, refused to recognise Abiola as the winner of the election. “Buhari should declare him the elected president of Nigeria,” Opadokun said.

Specifically, he demanded: “Abiola’s photograph should be placed where the photographs of past leaders that governed Nigeria are placed. A national monument should be erected in his honour. The federal government cheated MKO Abiola. There should be restitution for him.”

Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government Olatunji Bello, said June 12 was a day that must be remembered always, admonishing Nigerians to step up support for the quest for the restructuring of the country.

He said: “What we owe Nigeria today is nothing but true federalism. For us to achieve true federalism, we have to work hard for it. We still have a long way to go. If you want to live by Abiola’s memory, if you want to honour him, we owe him a duty to ensure that we install a viable democracy

“That viable democracy can only be installed if we have true federalism which we are presently not practising. That is very important. Lagos has everything to stand by its own. We run the police. We have the most viable infrastructure in the whole country. Yet, we are not given what we deserve.”

Kanu, who is currently the National Chairman of NADECO, lamented that Nigerians were still struggling to build a country of their dream, saying the violence in the Niger Delta and the South-east would persist till a workable federal structure was built.

“We should brace up and be prepared. Prayers will not solve the problem. We have to get back to a true federal Nigeria. If not, we should be prepared because what we are seeing is just a child’s play. I have not lost faith in Nigeria,” he said.