Adams foresees a glorious, new Nigeria, as he launches 79th OPU Chapter in Dubai

The national coordinator of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and Aare Ona Kakanfo designate, Otunba Gani Adams has said that he forsees a new, better Nigeria when the country is restructured along regional line and returned to her glorious past.
Speaking at the Land Mark hotel, Baniya, Dubai, The United Arabs Emirate (UAE), venue of the official launch of the United Arab Emirate( UAE ) chapter of the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), Adams said against all odds, Nigeria would soon be restructured along regional line, thus urging members of the group to play the roles expected of them in the emerging Nigeria.
In a release by his media office, Adams who is also the founder of Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), described the group as a wonderful platform for the unification of Yorubas in the diaspora, Adams said “before today, the noble body operates effectively in 78 countries around the world,” adding that “today’s launch brings the total countries OPU is operational to 79, even though there are still more countries ready for launch as well.”
He said the body has provided a veritable platform for the Odua natives living far away from their home land to constantly interact on issues of common interest, especially as it affects the Odua nation in particular and the country, Nigeria in general.
Noting that the Oodua Progressive Union is a non-partisan, non-religious, ethnic, socio-cultural and integrated sustainable development initiative, packaged and developed by Yoruba sons and daughters, based on a common vision and a shared conviction, Adams said the initiative called OPU, is anchored on the determination of Yoruba people to extricate themselves from the malaise of marginalisation and under-development.
Insisting that the members have roles to play in rebuilding Nigeria, Adams said “we cannot shy away from the reality of the unhealthy state of our country Nigeria.
“We all have a role to play to ensure that our country returns to her glorious past.
“That is why I challenge you, not only to lend your voice, but to ensure that you play your parts in the restructured Nigeria that will emerge soon, by the grace of God.
“To everyone that mean well for the country, it has been unanimously agreed that Nigeria must be restructured along regional line for her glory to return.
“Nigeria, for many of its over 250 ethnic groups, is obviously not a nation in the sense that we regard France, United Kingdom or South Africa as a nation.
“That is why, given an option, many of the ethnic groups in Nigeria would prefer to be independent of the country.
“Already, groups such as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Niger Delta Avengers, among others, have more or less shattered whatever illusions we may retain regarding the Nigeria that we are living in.
“While Nigeria would obviously be better off remaining a nation, it is also true that a surgical operation is required to take out the cancer of disintegration currently ravaging the country on every side,” Adams said.
He said Nigeria, as it is presently operated, is not sustainable, because according to him, Nigeria is supposed to be a federal republic, but it operates a unitary constitution where the states, like children, simply go to Abuja at the end of every month to collect food.
“They cannot even feed themselves. Is it not an utter shame that the descendants of the Oyo empire, Kanem-Bornu empire, Benin empire, and so on, have to go cap in hand to Abuja, collecting allocation that cannot even pay workers’ salaries when the traditional system which guaranteed full employment and a decent standard of living can be recreated through proper federalism like we had in the First Republic?” he asked.
Making a case for the return to regionalism, Adams said “in the USA, it was the states that came together to form the central/federal government currently headed by President Donald Trump.
“In Nigeria, it was the Federal Government that created the states for political reasons and to achieve selfish aim”
He offered that “a lot of things are wrong with our democracy back home and to address these anomalies, hence OPU support for the restructuring of our nation, lest the worse happen.”
At OPU level, he said, “we are canvassing for restructuring of the Nigeria nation along regional lines as the most practicable solution to the problem confronting the country at the moment and to achieve this, the issue of mutual understanding and compromise must come into play.
“Mutual understanding and compromise in the sense that the Federal Government must be magnanimous enough to cede more power to the regions that will now take custody of their domicile resources.
“It is our belief in OPU that the time is now for the country to take the option of restructuring, but we must also warn that any restructuring that is not tailored along regional line, reflecting the six geo-political structure of the country, would be mere waste of time and resources.”
Adams maintained that regionalism, “is most suitable for the country at this time as each region will be governed by laws that best suits it and I think the experience and success recorded in the Western region best register the need for the reversion to regionalism,” he told the gathering.