Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has insisted that the
Presidency of Nigeria must come to the South in 2023 not to thwart the power
rotation arrangement in the country.
Akeredolu said power rotation had been an unwritten
agreement in the country since the return to civil rule in 1999, saying that
arrangement must be changed now.
He said this on Wednesday at the one-year remembrance of
Prof. Bankole Oke of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan,
while delivering a lecture entitled, ‘Nigeria: The politics of religion in a
transitional society.’
He advised Nigerians to make sure that power did not return
to the North under what he described as the guise of a party picking a
southerner as its vice presidential candidate.
He said, “A party that picked somebody from the North as its
presidential candidate is not doing so in the country’s interest. (Peter) Obi
has the right to contest because he is from the South.
“We are ready to give it whatever it takes to make sure
power returns to the South in 2023.”
“There appears to be an understanding that power must rotate
between the North and the South. This understanding witnessed the contest of
two candidates from the South-West for the Presidency. It was part of the
unwritten agreement that the power equation must be balanced to allay the fear
of domination harboured by the people of the South.
“There is a conscious attempt not to disrupt the extant
agreement. There has been a seamless transition from one civilian regime to
another since 1999, the longest in the political history of the country.
“The current political permutations raise strong suspicions
on an undeclared motive to thwart the arrangement that has been working for the
country. The rotation of the office of the President is between the North and
the South since the inception of the Fourth Republic.”
The governor warned Nigerians to beware of the tricks of
desperate politicians using religion to divide the people.
Akeredolu said politicians in the First Republic achieved so
much because they were people with huge capacity, and religion was not an issue
in determining those elected and appointed into offices but the capacity to
deliver
He said Nigerian leaders before the independence laboured
hard to wrest power from the colonial masters while urging Nigerians to be
optimistic that the country would be great again. However, he admitted that it
was taking too long.
He stressed that Nigeria must be restructured, and state
police must be created to address the raging insecurity in the country.
“Religion is currently being deployed most shamelessly by
the elites to gain unmerited advantage. The earlier we stop this dangerous and
divisive campaign, the better it will be for everyone. Any war fought to
establish the supremacy of a faith over others can only end in tears. The
manipulative skills of politicians currently put to use will aggravate an
already bad situation.
“The solution to the challenges faced in the country will
not be found in the faiths of individuals. A person’s religious persuasion is
based on personal conviction. It is essentially private. The public space must
remain secular.
“Consequently, the current agitations for a faith-based
political representation are anchored on a certain misapprehension of the
requirements for leadership in a multi-ethnic state such as Nigeria.
“It borders on plain mischief to set the people on
themselves to attain political power. Any so-called religious leader, who
ignores knowledge and competence as necessary criteria to measure leadership
capacity, is an apostate,” he added.
A Professor of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Simeon Cadmus, and others described Oke as a great teacher, mentor, and outstanding academic.
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