Foremost Lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Wole Olanipekun has urged the government to summon enough by exposing those behind the nation’s insecurity.
Speaking at the sideline of the 29th edition of his Scholarship Programme and sixth edition of Empowerment Programme organized by Wole Olanipekun Foundation ,the legal icon maintained that Nigeria ,as a nation,does not need any external intervention ,urging the government to do the needful .
Over 500 benefitted from this year’s programme .The interventions covered a wide range of areas, including widows welfare, youth empowerment and elderly persons.
Olanipekun,former chairman,body of benchers also advocated regional federalism,as the only solution to healing the wounds .
According to him, “people are not saying the truth. Nigerians are waging war against Nigeria. And we know the Nigerians are waging war against Nigeria. And we don’t want to label them. We are afraid of naming them. Why should we be sponsoring, it’s not even rebellion, it’s insurrection, sponsoring insurrection in case of the country.
The legal luminary said Nigeria needs humanists, who will not wage war against their country, adding that Nigerians must stop inhumanity of man to man.
“Why this internal disharmony within our country. Why are people from outside trying now to intervene? Why do people hate their country?.
” Why are people disloyal to their country? Why this internal distractions, much disharmony, much distrust?”.
“We must try to love ourselves, we must try to be kind and appreciate the fact that one day, whether you are an abductor or a killer, you will die one day”.
” So you need to appreciate God. You need to appreciate humanity. We must be humanists. Let me now summarize it. Nigeria needs Humanists, they are thinkers. Humanists are kind. They are counterfeit. They are thoughtful. Humanists will not wage war against their country. There are people, Nigerians, waging war against Nigeria. And that’s what we don’t.
He noted that we can’t have a country and the citizens are sabotaging the nation and they get away with it and continuously work against the interest of the country.
” You can’t be planting war against your country and you are living in that country, saying, we should stop deceiving ourselves”.
“I want to plead and I’ve been pleading. I’ve been preaching it. It is time for us to heal wounds. It’s time for us to say, look, How do we live together? How do we create a bridge that will not collapse in the next few years? And that comes back, it takes us to what I’ve been saying. What can save Nigeria today is regional federalism. Through the regions we can integrate properly and I’ve been saying this since Obasanjo was president. when I was also president of the Nigerian Bar Association. That is the only way out for Nigeria, regional federalism.
“Let the regions come together. Let them now form a strong alliance. Let the residual powers be in the regions, but the powers which are traditionally meant for the centre be donated to the centre. That has been my singing song. And where I continue to say this, I continue to advocate it, I continue to mouth it, I continue to preach it. And I continue to spread it.
” Anybody who has a better idea can tell me. I’m not saying that I have a monopoly of knowledge. But the foolishness of God, It’s better than the wisdom of man. Assuming without concealing that there is any foolishness of God and I’m quoting Apostle Paul. God isn’t a fool. God has never been a fool. God will never be a fool. He’s decided everything for purposes. When you have the regions in Nigeria, you have the southwest. Monolithic. speaking one language is not by accident, it’s by God’s design.
“Let there be a region that will negotiate on behalf of his own people. You have the South East, God doesn’t make mistakes, they speak the same language. You have the South South, they are similar. You have the North Central, similar. North West, North East. But then, in the process of doing that, any people, any set of people that from the North Central if they want to come let them give them the freedom to come and meet their kids.”He said