Chief Bisi Akande yesterday backed the calls for the restructuring of the country for true federalism to engender national development. Speaking at a summit organised by the pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere, DAWN Commission, and South West governors in Akure, the former Osun State governor said the balkanization into many states by the military had done more harm than good.
He backed President Bola Tinubu’s reforms, saying they were deliberate and necessary steps to rebuild the nation’s foundation. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chief said successive military regimes weakened federalism by creating excessive administrative units.
According to him, the country began as a federation of regions with separate governments, but the military’s takeover after independence destroyed true federalism and replaced it with a unitary system.
He called for restitution through genuine restructuring. Akande said: “The military, being anti-federalist, hijacked the government after independence and replaced federalism with a unitary command structure.
“In their one-dimensional approach, successive military regimes sought unity by balkanising the country into 36 states and nearly 800 local governments. “This has overstretched national resources and created an unmanageable administrative system.” He saluted Tinubu for initiating a “quiet but profound restructuring” through the creation of regional development commissions, including the South West Development Commission (SWDC).
Akande said: “In a stroke of visionary leadership, in addition to the South South Development Commission, the present administration has established and inaugurated five regional development commissions — the North West, North Central, North East.
“Each of these commissions represents not just geographical entities, but economic development engines or grassroots-focused commissions – recognition that true development must begin from the grassroots, with each region in charge of its own destiny.
“For us in the South West, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility — to once again lead by example, demonstrating how local collaboration, innovative thinking, and strategic implementation can drive sustainable development – especially now in these times of diversification under the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Akande said one of the cornerstones of this administration’s reform agenda is economic diversification — the shift away from oil dependency toward a broad-based, resilient economy that leverages agriculture, technology, manufacturing, and human capital to create sustainable growth and shared prosperity for all citizens.
He urged the South West to stand at the vanguard of the transformation, saying agriculture, the primary driver of the economy, is being revitalized through massive federal and sub-national investments in value chains — from cassava and cocoa to rice, palm oil, poultry, and aquaculture.
Aside from agriculture, Akande said attention is turning to mining and solid minerals, where Nigeria’s wealth runs deep beneath our soil. He said the new Solid Minerals Roadmap and the creation of special mining zones are positioning states — including those in the South West — to tap into gold, lithium, bitumen, and other high-value minerals responsibly and profitably
