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| You MUST restructure Nigeria or . . .Ekwueme, Adebanjo warn Buhari |
The Second Republic Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Yoruba leader, Ayo Adebanjo, former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana and former Governors of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Peter Obi, yesterday emphasised on the need to restructure the Nigerian nation.
As a result they yesterday asked 'General' Muhammadu Buhari to commence the immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference.
They insisted that doing that would go a long way in addressing the myriads of problems confronting the country, adding that the current protests and demands for separation by various groups in the country, as well as other socio-economic crises could be reduced by half if the national conference report was considered and implemented.
They all spoke at the 17th Annual Convention of the Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), led by Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, took place at the Nike Lake Hotels, Enugu State.
The leaders, who also included Resource Control protagonist, Ankio Briggs maintained that anything short of restructuring Nigeria in line with the principles of true federalism would not be accepted.
According to them, the contents of the said report prescribed ways of solving most of the country’s problems, adding that the president should demonstrate his commitment to building an enduring legacy by embracing the document as “a working document”.
Speaking on the theme of the convention: “Still In Search of True Federalism,” former Vice President, Ekwueme said every disappointment was a blessing, noting that his incarceration in 1984 at Kirikiri prison by the military government led by Muhammadu Buhari, afforded him the opportunity to reflect deeply on Nigeria’s problems.
Ekwueme said he came out with the idea of six geopolitical zonal structures, which he pushed for in a national conference much later and it became a convention, and has taken care of minorities in the South and North.
He explained that what Nigeria negotiated for and agreed with colonial masters before independence was a regional government where each has a constitution, which were annexed to the Republican constitution of 1963.
According to him, the Republican Constitution then provided 50 percent revenue sharing formula for the regions, 30 per cent to a distributable pool, and 20 percent to centre.
“There is need for us to return to the basics from what we inherited from our founding fathers,” he said.
Chief Adebanjo in his remarks, went down the memory lane to trace the origin of federalism in Nigeria to various pre-and post colonial constitutional conferences, insisting that Nigeria must be restructured to correct the humongous damage done to the nation’s constitution by the military and to put a stop to various acts of uprising in the country today including those of Niger Delta Avengers, MASSOB, and IPOB.
Prof Jerry Gana stated that the nation’s founding fathers were right by agreeing to a federal structure, which he described as the best governance structure to guarantee peace, equity and justice.
Ankio Briggs who received the award of “Amazon of Truth” by IYM stated that true and fiscal federalism must be truthful and justifiable, adding that she believes in resource control and that as much as she doesn’t believe that Nigeria must break, she believes that if the nation continues on the current path, then disintegration would be inevitable.
Dr. Ezeife, who also received award of “Igbo Peoples General” stated that the 2014 national conference report recommended additional 18 states to make for 48 state-structure in order to address some inequalities created by the military.
Former governor Peter Obi of Anambra stressed that he supports restructuring the country on the basis of fiscal federalism, but while that was being addressed, there was need to urgently address the high cost of governance in the country, insisting that any governor who said he cant pay salary should give way for other persons with better ideas.
Highlight of the event was the award of “Liberator” to the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, by the IYM, even as the national leader of IYM, Evang Ukoh expressed the conviction of his group that if Nigeria is restructured it would take care of the various agitations for break away by various separatist groups.
-The Lead
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