As delegates begin debates tomorrow on the reports of the 20 committees, the Yoruba ethnic nationality has said they will not accept anything short of regional autonomy, just as they calls for the establishment of Regional Police. In a 88-page document put together by the Yoruba Assembly, Afenifere Renewal Group and Yoruba Academy, the Yoruba said there was need for a parliamentary form of government at the centre where there wiould be the right to self-determination and the right to secede.
They demanded for fiscal federalism and resource control where a substantial part of the proceeds accruing from every region would be domiciled in the region and an agreed percentage contributed to the centre by the federating units. Insisting that it was “regional autonomy or nothing,” they wanted total control of natural resources within the region, development, establishment of appropriate governance structure for the South -West Region as well as a devolved authority, responsibilities and span of control to manage and ensure the sustenance of the region.
Advising delegates, especially those from other geo-political zones of the country, to note that the unity of the country was negotiable and must be negotiated, they added that there must be a structured country with regional arrangements via the consolidation of the current “unviable thirty-six (36) states.’’ The document also stated that any ethnic group or groups within a state wishing to align with any other state or to belong to a new region should be allowed to do if confirmed in a plebiscite by the affected people, for instance, Yoruba people in Edo, Kogi and Kwara states.