The Poet Lied. Exposing the Hypocrisy of Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

“Let us decompose that word and let everybody be specific. There is so much confusion. Don’t hide restructuring under one word. Bring it out, so that we know what to choose."

“Some people are calling for parliamentary system of government. The new generation must be told that it was the parliamentary system that caused crisis which was difficult to resolve and which led us into civil war." Babatunde Fashola.

The parliamentary system did not cause the crisis that culminated in the civil war. After the first military coup, Aguiyi Ironsi promulgated the Unification Decree, hoping that it would calm nerves and unite the country after the assassination of Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Ribadu, Akintola, Okotiebor, etc. But Yakubu Gowon, assisted by Murtala Muhammed, Danjuma, Daura, Useni, Yar'Adua, IBB, Buhari, and the others, thought otherwise. They considered the Unification Decree of Aguiyi Ironsi as a colonization document.

The Northern region, historically, did not want to be under the control of any government in Lagos. The main reason that Ahmadu Bello remained in Kaduna as the Premier of Northern Region and the leader of the Northern People Congress (NPC), but sent his second in command, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, to Lagos to form the Government along with Zik of NCNC on October 01, 1960. A development Chief Awolowo considered condescending.

The Unification Decree of Aguiyi Ironsi was more like the Unitary System of government that we have today - a bloated central government, which Governor Fashola condemned at John Hopkins in his 2013 speech on True Federalism. The young military officers mentioned above who were at the time groomed by Ahmadu Bello saw the assassination of their mentor and the newly promulgated decree as second colonization of the Northern Region. And that was what led to the second coup and the accompanied civil war.

Sadly, the system we have now is consistent with the spirit and letter of the Aguiyi Ronsi Unification Decree. And who are the authors and champions of the unitary system we have now? The same people who rebelled against the unification decree of Ironsi. And they are the same people who are opposing what they stood for in 1967 - a loose federation, otherwise known as True Federalism. What a different crude oil makes! 

Babatunde Fashola lied big time. He is not being truthful about the fundamentals and true meaning of True Federalism and Restructuring. And he is not being truthful about the cause of the civil war. This is a fraud, and it will corrode whatever is left of his integrity before 2023. His summersault is consistent with the views of the Northern Elders and Traditional rulers on True Federalism and Restructuring. 

On his 2019 demand that we "Don’t hide restructuring under one word" and that we should "Bring it out, so that we know what to choose," Mr. Fashola, you did that for us in 2013 with your speech at John Hopkins University - you called it "True Federalism." 
In your own words: “The 36 state governors are demanding a truer federal system in terms of fiscal and political federalism. I associate myself with this demand in its entirety.” “The realization of these demands on their own may not necessarily leapfrog us into El Dorado, but without them, the journey will be tortuous. If they materialize, they liberate the possibilities that lie inherent in the diverse capacities that the Nigerian states and local governments are blessed with” 

Governor Fashola, the truth still matters; your emerging narrative on True Federalism or Restructuring is convoluted and self-serving at best. Please, embrace your 2013 position and join hands with the patriots with a view to extricating Nigeria from the decadence that the administration in which you serve as a key player plunged it.