The Oodua People’s Congress on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to restructuring that is centred on regionallism, saying the structural imbalances will continue to draw Nigeria backwards among the comity of nations.
The OPC’s position was contained in a communique issued by the leadership of the organization at the end of its first meeting of the year at Oodua House,Ikeja, Lagos.
The marathon meeting, which had in attendance all members of the National Executive Council and National Coordinating Council,which is the highest decision- making organ of the Yoruba socio-cultural organization, also urged the Federal Government to reduce the prices of the Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol and other products in order to alleviate the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
“We come into the new year with a lot of hope that the OPC under the leadership of our amiable father and leader, the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland,Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, will continue to play its role in promoting peace and unity and ensuring effective security in Yoruba land and Nigeria as a whole.
“Our position on restructuring is still sacrosanct. We root for a regional autonomy- regionalism, where the six regions (federating units) under the Nigerian federation would be allowed to develop at their own pace in accordance with the 1960/1963 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That has remained the only panacea to the structural imbalances in Nigeria.
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“We are using this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to reduce the prices of foodstuffs and other consumer products in order to reduce the hardship that is biting hard across the country. We also urge the Federal Government to stabilize the foreign exchange market so as to help the naira from further degeneration”.
The OPC also urged the governors of the South West region to urgently reconsider the request made last year by the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams,to partner with the states security agencies in order to tackle the spate of insecurity in the region.
“Following the recent alarm raised by the Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde that terrorists,bandits and kidnappers are now in Oyo and other states in the South West, the OPC would not allow bandits and other criminal elements to turn the South West into their haven.
“We are ready to partner with the South West security architectures in getting rid of the criminal elements in the region.”
The OPC, however, assured that the Yoruba socio-cultural organization will continue to raise the standard of the cultural promotion activities, by using the new initiative to drive tourism and economic prosperity to Yoruba land.
“Our effort in promoting the cultural identity of Yoruba race was commendable in 2024.And going forward, we are bringing a lot of innovations in 2025.All these will reflect in the planning and the quality of our programmes. We are very much determined to improve on the standard of our cultural promotion activities this year”.
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