OONI OF IFE GIVES THUMBS UP TO ONGOING PUBLIC HEARINGS ON NATIONAL CONSTITUTION; SAYS ‘WE NEED TO REFRESH THE BASIS OF OUR EXISTENCE’
By Oki Samson, Trek Africa Newspaper
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II
The Ooni of Ife HIM Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II has given his nod of approval to the public hearings on the National Constitution going on across the country. It is noted that there has been a clamour for restructuring of the country. State policing, resource control, true federalism, secession, religion are some of the topmost on the minds of Nigerians that are requesting for the restructuring of the body politic of the country.
However there seems not to be one voice on what restructuring means and how to go about it. Thus, the ongoing public hearing has it is been held in the country is a stitch in time that saves nine.
The Arole Oodua, Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi gave the endorsement in an exclusive chat he had with Oki Samson of Trek Africa Newspaper on the sidelines of his recent visit to the Alara of Ilara, Oba Olufolarin Olukayode Ogunsanwo in Epe, Lagos.
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II
Trek Africa: Restructuring has become a constant argument for Nigerians, what is the best way to go about this?
Ooni Ogunwusi: I am very happy for the new development in our politics. Now, for the first time, we are having many public hearings like never before as far as amending the Constitution is concerned. We need to refresh the basis of our existence. We need fresh ideas that will suit what is on ground. The youth issue is a problem for us all. If we don’t work on it, it is like sitting on a keg of gunpowder. We have to keep proffering solutions. We have heard enough of complaining about the problem.
Trek Africa: How do we address youth issues in Nigeria?
Ooni Ogunwusi: There is no gainsaying. We all know the problem; we should focus on the solution. We have the highest demography of youths in this continent. Over 70% of our population is between the ages of 21 – 40 and they are very active. If they don’t have work to do obviously it will trigger a lot of things – insecurity, unrest and all – that for me needs to tell our government to wake up and bring us laudable initiative that will bring out the best in youths in this country. You will see that those who are engaged in kidnapping probably think they are doing business which is wrong but one needs to let them know that the country is an asset for all of us and we must protect it.
Trek Africa: The rate of inflation stands at 18.17%, it is biting on Nigeria, how do we stem this tide?
Ooni Ogunwusi: We know the basis of inflation is that with high inflation there will be rise in unemployment. We need to get our economy to be more productive. We need more industries – mega-industries that can employ 50,000, 100,000, and also drive our SMEs. We need to promote our local industries to bring down inflation. We also need to promote goods that are produced within our system. We are basically rent-seekers. We are import-dependent. We have more focus on rent-seeking than being a productive economy.
Trek Africa: What role can agriculture play in all of this?
Ooni Ogunwusi: Yes, another area is agriculture. It is very key to bringing down inflation rate. We need to build a proper structure along the value chain in terms of our agricultural drive. This government has tried in the area of rice revolution. They are working on maize revolution. We need to continue. We need to keep at it. It is not only rice and maize but everything that has to do with staple food so that most produce wasting in the farmland will be processed by the agro-allied industries. Agriculture is a critical factor to bringing down inflation. We are doing but we are not doing enough.
Trek Africa: What more would you advise in order to better the economy?
Ooni Ogunwusi: We implore our stakeholders in the economy to work with government and the organized private sector particularly. It is a very tough environment to do business in Nigeria. We should keep it simple.
