The Aare Ona Kakanfoo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams has given some insight into the crises that engulfed the southwest in the last week explaining why Nigeria can’t survive without restructuring.
Adams spoke on Arise Television on October 25 in a live zoom interview.
He said there was little he could do as the Aare Onakakanfo in the recent crisis that engulfed the country espcially the southwest because he had no power to tackle security issues in the region.
He explained too that the crisis was more in Lagos because Lagos State was yet to sign into law the bill for the Amotekun Security outfit.
While absorbing the state from blame on the non-signing of the bill, he said the national security adviser did not approve the ammunition the security outfit would use for securing the state.
He said however that it was the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) that minimised the damage in Lagos pointing out that the miscreants who went about destroying businesses and police stations would have done more damage.
“I know the kind of effort we put in during the crisis. At a point, I was overwhelmed with calls. People were calling me from other states asking for the service of the OPC. We had to step into the situation in Fagba in Lagos but then, a lot of damage had been done. It was the OPC that had to secure many of the police stations in Lagos.”
He said it would be wrong to accuse the EndSARS protesters of destroying police stations and businesses in the state. “The protests in Lagos only happened in major places like Gbagada, Lekki, and Ikeja. There was no protest in Orile Iganmu where the police station was burnt. It was the burning of the station that informed the declaration of curfew in the state.”
Adams who was visibly agitated during the interview alleged that politicians instigated the burning of the Orile Station so they could have ground to declare a state of emergency in the state.
Though he could not substantiate his claim, he said the information he gathered from the OPC members in that area indicated that the burning of the station was carried out by sponsored miscreants, not the endSARS protesters.
He said he declined the invitation to be part of the EndSARS protest because he knew the government was never at home with peaceful protest.
“I knew from day one that the crisis will degenerate because the government was never interested in peaceful protest. And I did warn the federal government never to use force on the people. I made a statement a day before the soldiers were invited to Lekki warning President Buhari to resist the temptation of bringing in soldiers. But they did not heed to the warning,” he said.
Giving further explanation, he said the EndSARS protest was beyond what any human being can comprehend. Days into the protest we tried to get who their leader is, we could not. The children were so resolute in their demands. The government should have allowed them to continue with their peaceful protest and ensure that it remains peaceful. After about three weeks they would have been tired and choose a leader to represent them in a negotiation.”
Adams dismissed the tribal colouration of the crisis noting that what happened is a demonstration of hunger and anger in the land. “what happened is not about Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo feud. People are hungry and angry. Security is not only about getting police to protect the people. There has to be food security, there has to be health security. The education of the people has to be guaranteed. If all these things are not in place, it will be hard to guarantee security in the land.
He recalled a protest that happened a few years in the UK saying that, “What the UK government used to quell the protest was the threat to withdraw the council flat from the protesters. In Nigeria what is the thing government can use to make people quiet? Nothing. So, government has to attend to the needs of the people.”
He urged Igbos and Hausas to disregard calls by one Adeyinka Grandson to quit Lagos saying he is not known in Yoruba land. “If anybody will make such statement it will be somebody who is well respected in Yorubaland and I am sure our people can’t say that.
“Igbos are wonderful people and they have doing their business peacefully in the state. We don’t have problems with them and we don’t have problems with the Hausas too. So, people should ignore the threat. I received several calls from people on the day he made the announcement but I had to tell those who called to ignore him”
On state of the nation, he said, “We need to restructure. If we don’t there will be civil war. There is too much concentration of power in the centre. And that is what is affecting security in the country. Every crime is local. What has happened clearly shows we need state police to address the issues of security. We need to go back to the 1963 and 1960 constitution. We need the regional system of government so that every region can develop at their own pace. The power in the centre is too much.”
He said the constitutional conference held during the government of President Goodluck Jonathan recommended about 664 items to move Nigeria forward adding however that time has overtaken some of the issues raised in that conference.
“What has happened in the last few days clearly shows that we need to restructure. The north wants SARS, the south does not. The north was protesting against the endSARS protesters. So, it clearly shows we need restructuring. That is the only way we can guarantee the survival of the country”
