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Only true federalism can bring genuine change, says Mimiko

By Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan
26 October 2015   |   2:30 am
GOVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State yesterday declared that the only way to bring about genuine change is to return the country to the path of true federalism.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state

GOVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State yesterday declared that the only way to bring about genuine change is to return the country to the path of true federalism.

Mimiko, who disclosed this in Ibadan at the inauguration of a private radio station, Petals FM, owned by the Odumakin family, said although he had never doubted the passion of President Muhammadu Buhari to develop the country, the issue of restructuring must not be brushed aside.

He said, “I don’t doubt the intention of President Muhammadu Buhari. Although I am one of those who believe the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a contraption of convenience, Buhari has the passion to develop Nigeria. But there are structural issues that cannot go away. Unless this country is restructured, we cannot be on the path to rapid development. The best we can get is this height of tokenism. If we want to be one of the big 20 economies in the world in the next 10 or 20 years, we cannot achieve that under this unitary system.

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nationalities conglomerate with many historically autonomous nationalities and there is no way we can merge them together under a unitary constitution and type of momentum and trajectory that we desire for rapid development. This is why we advocate a truly federal structure. This has absolutely nothing to do with political parties. It is about the imperative of history.

True federalism is an idea whose time has come and nobody can wish it away. The evidence will be so empirically throwing itself in our face and we will agree to it
“We thank God that Chief Olu Falae did not die in the kidnappers’ den, because such incident has the potential to shake this country to its foundations. We need not only state police but also community police. That is the type of structure we are talking about,” he said.

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