Afenifere, Ohaneze, ACF, and Others Suggest Nigeria’s Regional Government System and Request Name Change

Major sociocultural and ethnic groups in the nation, such as the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (ACF), Afenifere, and Ohaneze Ndigbo, have boldly called for regionalism and a parliamentary system as answers to Nigeria’s many problems, according to Vanguard.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>

These groups, under the auspices of the Rebirth Group (TRG), proposed renaming the country United Regions of Nigeria (URN) in a communiqué issued after a symposium in Kaduna.

The symposium, themed “Envisioning Nigeria’s Future: Addressing the National Question”, and convened by Owolabi Oladejo, brought together diverse voices to deliberate on Nigeria’s future. The communiqué jointly signed by Comrade Jare Ajayi, Mr. Olaolu Abogunloko, and Mr. DIY Nweze, indicated that the consensus opinion among participants was that Nigeria’s current structure is unsustainable.

“The regions should be given more powers over their respective affairs. The central government is to concern itself only with issues that the federating units cannot handle. The central government should be smaller and smarter,” the communiqué emphasized.

Discussions revolved around critical topics, including “Restructuring: Pathways to True Federalism,” “Economic Restructuring for Sustainable Development,” and “Unity in Diversity: Building a Cohesive Nigerian Identity.” Speakers unanimously agreed that Nigeria’s current framework hinders its potential to serve its citizens effectively.

A key recommendation was that restructuring into regions should not dismantle existing states. Instead, states would form federating units, with each region operating autonomously under its own constitution. The resources generated from local areas would also follow a new sharing formula, with 70% retained by the resource-producing community and 30% allocated to the central government.

According to the communique, states should form “federating units to make the country to be known as United Regions of Nigeria (URN) or any other nomenclature that we find convenient. Each region is to have its own constitution and be autonomous.”

The forum also proposed healing the nation’s divisions by establishing a Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission and assigning constitutional roles to traditional rulers.

Notable attendees included representatives from the Middle Belt Forum, Yoruba Referendum, and several ethnic and regional associations.

Organizations represented at the symposium included Ohaneze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Middle Belt Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Socio-Community Youth Association of Nigeria, Yoruba Referendum, Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria, (Kaduna State Chapter), Igbo Community in Kaduna, Yoruba Community in Kaduna, Tarayyar Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri Christian Association in Nigeria and Western Region Organization.

Others were Southern Borno Residents in Kaduna, Yobe Community Residents in Kaduna, Adamawa Community Residents in Kaduna and Taraba Community Residents in Kaduna.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>