‘Nigeria’ll Never Move Forward Until…’

The former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday, disclosed that Nigeria will never move forward until it is restructured.
He noted that Nigeria’s sub-nationalities must be given some level of autonomy to chart their own destinies.
Mimiko made the disclosure during a conference held to mark the 70th birthday of renowned poet and activist, Odia Ofeimun, at the Julius Berger Hall of the University of Lagos, UNILAG.
The celebration was organised by the Odia Ofeimun @70 Birthday Committee, in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos.
Themed, ‘Taking Nigeria Seriously: A Conference in Honour of Odia Ofeimun’, the occasion witnessed a gathering of intellectuals, scholars and academics from within Nigeria, Africa and as wide as from North America and Europe, including, Dean, Faculty of Arts, UNILAG, Prof Olafunke Adegboye; former governor of Ondo State, Femi Falana, SAN; Hon Wale Osho; Prof Femi Osofisan, Dr Lola Akande; Prof Hope Eghagha, and many others.
The Ondo State former governor, who spoke shortly after the first session of the conference, described the celebrator as one of the very few individuals who still believe in the workability Nigeria, adding that, “If people like Odia are still very optimistic about this country, why shouldn’t we.”
He further noted that, “We may differ in perspective but I believe that Nigeria will never move forward until it is restructured. Until the components and sub-nationalities of Nigeria have some level of autonomy to be able to independently chart their destinies within the Nigerian nation. I believe in a big Nigeria but then, a Nigeria that is centrally governed, unitarily governed, can never move forward.