By Folusho Ajibulu

Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesolawants Nigerians to rise and demand a proper federal structure, politically, fiscally and organically.

According to him, the Sovereign Wealth Fund is a direct assault on our federal system of government and must be stopped forthwith.

“The federal status of the nation has been under severe assault as our governance structure is increasingly assuming a unitary form by default. The proper name of the country is Federal Republic of Nigeria, but this has been shortened to Nigeria in order to deny it of its federal status”, Aregbesola said in a broadcast on the occasion of the 51st independence anniversary of Nigeria.

The governor pointed out that one identifiable ill in Nigeria since independence is bad politics.

“Whereas politics is a noble art, an avenue for self development and leadership participation and the ultimate arena for public service, it has been corrupted into a means of self aggrandisement, political witch-hunting and governance debasement.

The current attempt by the Federal Government to deploy the entire power of the state in the persecution of opposition figures amounts to abuse of power which must be stopped in order not to further imperil the fragile cord that binds the nation together. Politics must be returned to its pristine position as the platform for serving the people and improving their welfare”, he stated.

He noted the helplessness of the Federal Government and its agencies in the face of dire security challenges.

“This occasion of independence celebration should afford us the opportunity to revisit the idea of state police if we need to take our own security in our hands. I want to assure the people of Osun State, however, that we will not allow them to be exposed indefensibly to threats and conditions of insecurity”, Aregbesola pointed out.

“We are going to do everything possible to protect our people and guarantee the security of their lives and property. To this end, we are working on the establishment of a security trust fund through which we will support the security agencies in the state. We also intend to explore the constitution of the federal republic to the fullest in the protection of our citizens. A section of the OYES volunteers will be deployed to purely security assignment to assist the police in the discharge of their duties”.