The National President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, has said what agitators of democracy fought for during the military era is completely the opposite of what is presently happening in the country.
Speaking at a parley with newsmen in Kaduna, Yerima Shettima who expressed dissatisfaction with the situation said Nigeria needs people with a conscience to lead the country.
He said, “We have come a long way to fight against the dark days of the military in the quest for democracy in the country as a result, we suffered a lot of incarceration, detentions, some of our colleagues were killed in the course of our struggle but unfortunately, what we fought for is completely the opposite of what is happening in the country.”
He said there was a need to restructure the country as well as decentralization of power, stressing, that “If we continue to have a concentration of power at the Centre, we will continue to produce funny characters as leaders occupying sensitive places in the country.
“I am one of the voices in the Northern part of the country that believed in restructuring. My argument is that the moment we continue to manage the Centre as it is today without decentralising it, we will continue to produce leaders that do not worth occupying any position in the country, simply because they have godfathers to do everything for them.”
He further observed that with decentralization and given the regions certain autonomy, the communities would have the power to play major roles to choose the right and credible leaders that would represent them very well on issues that affect them.
He believed, “We should have a Centre that is less attractive but not to make it a do-or-die affair as it is today, stressing that it is better to have people that would do better in their regions for the overall development of the country.
Yerima Shettima recalled that the regional government then was able to enable the likes of Awolowo, Azikwe, Sardauna of Sokoto and others to work credibly for their regions, adding that today, many that were not born are still benefiting from their noble legacies.
The National President, AYCF said, “This wasn’t what we struggled for or envisaged in the future when we fought the military for a return to democracy in the country with the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Gani, and many others as our role models. The younger ones should have this idea and continue with the struggle for a better and united Nigeria because it is not yet over because things are getting worse by the day. We can not afford to say all is right in the country, we have to tell ourselves the truth on the best way forward for the country.”