'Sovereign Conference'll Halt Drift to Fascism'
Lagos
By Gboyega Akinsanmi
Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG) has reiterated the need for Sovereign National Conference as the only objective means to put a halt to the drift towards fascism in the country.
In its resolution after the Third All Yoruba Youth Conference (AYYC) held at the Airport Hotel, Lagos, the group said the Obasanjo-led government should bring an end to the cheap selling of the collective inheritances of the country in the name of privatisation, dubious deregulation of the oil and gas sector and its anti-people economic policies.
It noted that concrete steps should be taken to actualise the installation of an Oba of Ilorin before the first quarter of 2005, adding that it did not have confidence in the composition of the committe set up by Kwara State Government to review the status of traditional rulers in the state.
In a statement by COSEG Secretary-General, Mr. Wale Balogun and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Femi Obayori, the present federal system does not reflect true sense of federalism, saying it should involve decentralising powers or authorities among all segments of the country including community, state, regional and federal police.
Reviewing the lapses the present government, the group noted that the present civilian dispensation, which is a product of the struggle of the people, had dashed the hope of people by five years of fascistic development, spareheaded by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It averred that this adminstration had been more of curse to the people than blessing for the fact that there was too much emphasis on the implementation of draconian and reactionary policy options of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, noting that government has lost its focus to protect the dignity of its citizenry by providing basic needs.
It said "should the effort to convoke the Sovereign National Conference be frustrated by the ruling clique or in the event of its irresoluteness on the part of some of the oppressed nations, then the Yoruba would be left with no option than to take their destiny in their hands. Details of this shall be made public at the grand Assembly of Militant Yoruba Youths slated for September 2005."
"It is very painful and disappointing that rather than the so-called Yoruba leaders to close ranks and chart a course for the race, they are bogged down in the murky water of internal bickering, struggle for supremacy a nd jostling for attention of the various Caliphate presidential hopeful come 2007," it lamented.
Condemning the Obasanjo-led government, the group said the history of the people of Nigeria had been that of untold story of hardship and struggle under the hegemony of the coherent clique of neo-colonial elite and neo-imperialist powers, adding that everything would be done to resist their unpopular decisions.
While asking Federal Government to cede his position from the imperialist re-orientation, it blamed the unsettling global situation and worsening conditions of black people on the inability of Nigerian state to maintain people-oriented economic empire in the continent.
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