Salis and his wife, Olabisi during a recent meeting with religious leaders in Lagos<br />
The only way for Lagos State to be rescued is for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to be voted out by the electorate in 2019.
The state’s chapter of Alliance for Democracy (AD), the original platform upon which Bola Tinubu, who is currently a chieftain of APC, emerged as governor in 1999, made the above assertion.
AD maintains that the present political leaders of the state have abandoned the agenda of the founder of progressive politics in Southwest.
While speaking at separate events recently, the standard bearer of Lagos AD for the 2019 governorship election, Chief Owolabi Salis, said APC must be voted out for the state to progress in line with the thoughts and agenda of the original founding fathers of Southwest politics.
Salis, who made the call at the grand finale of Ikorodu Day Celebration, organised by Ikorodu Oga Development Association (IKODASS), wondered how a party that could not trust its incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, for reelection basically on selfish purpose harbor good agenda for a state like Lagos.
He said APC’s policies have not only retarded the growth and development of Lagos State, but that the situation where an individual also dominates its resources should be rejected. He stressed that it was imperative for the youth in the state to come together in the next election and take their destinies in their own hands by voting right.
Also speaking when he was honoured by some non-Yoruba indigenes of Lagos, Akwa-Cross 2018 programme with the theme ‘Creating Sense of Belonging to Minorities in Nigeria,’ Salis said it was important for Nigerians to stay together as a country despite our diversity.
While accusing the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of initiating discriminatory policies among Nigerians, Salis declared: “Nigeria being the most populous black nation in the world needs to forge unity to defend and preserve the interest of our black brothers across the globe.
“There must be equal opportunities for all the diverse ethnic groups in the country. We have to stay together because we are strong together and present the hope for black race. For us to stay together in peace and love, we have to reform or restructure to create proportional opportunities for all diverse groups within the country. The system we currently practise does not give hope to the minorities even though they are stakeholders in Nigeria project. If the minorities can form a solid block, which is unlikely, then balanced. We need a system that will challenge it.”
Salis was bestowed with the title Abai of Akwa-Cross.
Meanwhile, representative of the group, Mr. Saleh Udom, faulted the current presidential system of government saying, it does not seem to give a place for the minority, even as he advocated a system called equity-based democracy.
“Although, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made efforts in creating bodies to protect the interest of minorities like the Federal Character Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, where the minorities can lodge complaints.
However praiseworthy and laudable these bodies seem to be, the genuine intention of the government are, at best for psychological satisfaction as those bodies, underfunded.
The minority communities have been clamouring for resource control and decentralisation of power as a measure to integrate them in the mainstream of governance, but both present and past governments have carefully avoided policies or bills in that regard.
“A system of government that would bring about rotational presidency within the six geo-political zones would surely create a sense of belonging for the minority race and even confidence in the majority race, that all interest have been fully integrated in governance.”
