A renowned Lagos base legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, has said that the EndSARS protest was an indication that Nigeria needs a genuine restructuring for better future.
The former President of Nigeria Bar Association has expressed regret that two police stations were burnt down in his Ikere-Ekiti country home during the crisis, thereby putting the policing system in jeopardy due to tactical withdrawal of the police from the community.
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Olanipekun, at the weekend awarding scholarships to 143 students to mark the 2020 edition of his scholarship scheme and the launching of the Wole Olanipekun Foundation to empower youths and downtrodden masses in Ekiti State, said:
‘Whatever might have been the outcome of EndSARS protests, the bitter take away there is that we must honestly, sincerely, passionately, unpretentiously take step to reawaken Nigeria, rethink Nigeria, rebuild Nigeria, rehabilitate Nigeria, re-orientate Nigeria, rekindle Nigeria, re-adjust Nigeria and revitalise Nigeria.’
‘The bitterness among ethnic nationalities is so deep, and we need genuine reconciliation and restructuring of the polity. That small sore has become cancerous and we need radical surgery to extract it.’
Olanipekun revealed that 143 students will benefit from the 2020 edition of his scholarship scheme; among them are 67 at the secondary school students, 73 university undergraduates, three law students and a Ph.D. candidate, He added that the His Foundation which was just-officially launched would kick off with empowerment of 100 youths and 100 widows and aged that would benefit between ₦50, 000 and ₦30, 000 each to establish small-scale businesses to reduce poverty in the state.
The legal luminary concluded by urging well-meaning indigenes of the town to partner with Governor Kayode Fayemi’s government to ensure smooth take-off of the proposed University of Education, Science and Technology in Ikere-Ekiti for radical economic development of the town.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK