European systems of government have not served Africa well.

The parliamentary and presidential systems of government were developed to oppose the power of tyrannical European kings and queens. Consequently, the system of government was as remote from the people as was the monarchy itself. The ‘representatives’ of the people who made up these governments were equally remote, and they were selected by a system of periodic beauty pageants termed elections.  By contrast, the Yoruba system of government was designed primarily to oversee contracts between individuals in the community, and not as means to oppose the Oba. The ‘city state’ governance that the Yoruba Empire perfected was shared governance between ‘governments of the local’ and ‘government of the all’. Local governance was strong whilst central government was weak.
 
The Yoruba system of local governance is similar in some respects to the Parish Council System in England. I was elected to the Anstey Parish Council for a 4-year term in 1999. Although the Parish Council is the lowest rung of governance in England, it issued local ‘bye-laws’; it provided governance for schools; it was responsible for local amenities including sports. Indeed, the Anstey Parish Council managed a football stadium, a rugby pitch and a cricket ground. The parishioners lived within easy reach of the council offices. Councillors, just like the members of the Oyomesi, were not paid for serving on the council. The Yoruba system of local governance like the Parish Council system is truly ‘government of the people, for the people, by the people’. The 2-tier Yoruba system of government – local and central - must be the basic structure for the Oduduwa Republic.
 
I envisage, without being overly prescriptive, Oba-based councils each comprising of say 34 members to provide adequate enough numbers to form working committees; committee chairmen to form the Local Council Board (Oyomesi?) responsible for running the council and overseeing ‘bye-laws’; all members of the local council to be directly elected, no party affiliations, for a 5-year term, with no person entitled to more than one term; local council elections to be the only nationwide election; each local council to have the Oba as its Chairman. The local government would be responsible for all aspects of live except, immigration, external and internal security, transport, monetary system and civil and criminal law.
 
I envisage, without being overly prescriptive, a Central Legislature comprising of members nominated to it by the local council; each local council to select one member amongst its ranks, by secret ballot, to represent the locality at the central legislature; the legislature to appoint amongst its ranks, by secret ballot, Secretaries of State, to head various departments of state as well as the Head of State for a 3-year term with no person entitled to more than one term. Citizens of the Oduduwa Republic to be supreme above all else and to have the right to directly decide on all and every policy matters; each citizen to have the right to propose an amendment or addition to the constitution to be decided by a referendum. Members of council and legislature to be part-time and be reimbursed for expenses only.