Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the governor of Ondo State, emphasised yesterday that the South must supply Nigeria's next president, stating there is no going back on the cycle.
When Is A Nation? was the title of Akeredolu's 45th convocation lecture at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State. According to the report Exploring the Socio-Political Crises in Post-Independence Nigeria, the country of over 250 ethnic groups with only a few dominant ones could not function.
"We have to rotate," he said. We are adamant, and we will give it our best. Mr. Vice President is a constitutional specialist and a professor of law. I'm confident he'll agree with me that power is too concentrated in the hands of a few people at the top.
"In the heart of the country's current difficulties is an overconcentration of power at the centre." On the fertile ground of mutual hostility among the ethnic ethnicities that make up the country, no meaningful foundation for progress can be established.
"No amount of coercion can quell agitations for equality and justice in a society where the fundamental law, such as the erroneous 1999 constitution, works against growth."
"The current experimentation with six geopolitical zones should be prolonged," he says, "to speed the process of true integration among the country's varied populations."
"As was the case before, the federal judiciary should deal with problems on the Exclusive Legislative List. This geopolitical entity should be authorised to manage economic activity within its jurisdiction and pay appropriate taxes to the federal government.
"If these humble comments are taken seriously, our dear country would have solved most of the current challenges," Akeredolu claimed.