Tempers flared on Wednesday when socio-political organisations assessed the state of the nation in the 60 years of its independence from t...
Tempers flared on Wednesday when socio-political
organisations assessed the state of the nation in the 60 years of its
independence from the colonial bondage.
Groups such as the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze
Ndigbo; Afenifere and the Middle Belt Forum, in separate interviews with The
PUNCH, described federalism as it currently being practised in Nigeria as
fraudulent and called for genuine restructuring of the country.
The apex northern group, the Arewa Consultative Forum, in an
interview with one of our correspondents in
Kaduna, dismissed the call for restructuring, saying it was not well
defined by its proponents. The group said the North could not be intimidated.
The ACF also said the North preferred a referendum to
determine Nigeria’s continued existence, adding that various parts of the
country could go their different ways if its existence was no more desirable.
But the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawan, urged
Nigerians to use the opportunity of the ongoing constitution review to suggest
ways the country could get true federalism.
Lawan, in his special message to Nigerians on the 60th
independence anniversary of the country, said,
“On our part as the legislature, we will continue to provide true
representation to the Nigerian people and to strive to make their government
work for them.
“In this regard, the ninth National Assembly is committed to
having another look at our constitution. This is with a view to making it a
document of the Nigerian people. Fellow Nigerians should take advantage of this
opportunity by taking active part in the constitution review process.
“The overall objective of the periodic amendments of our laws is to make them keep pace with
the changes that each epoch requires, strengthen the bond that keeps us
together and to cement peace and progress in our beloved country.”
Also in his message, the Deputy Senate President, Ovie
Omo-Agege, said the Senate would be fair to all, in constitution review.
He said, “Indeed, part of our collective efforts towards
evolving democratic growth and national development is reflected in the work of
the Senate’s Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution which I chair.
“The committee has received memoranda from all sections of
Nigeria and sustained vigorous interests as well as participation in our plans
for a constitution amendment that will enable us all to further improve our
nation’s prospects for peace and progress, unity.”
But the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, in separate interviews
with The PUNCH by its Secretary General, Sehinde Arogbofa and its spokesman,
Yinka Odumakin, dismissed the ongoing constitution review by the National
Assembly.
Arogbofa said rather than embarking on another constitution
review, which he described as a waste of time and resources, the regime of
Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) should look at the report of the 2014
national conference, which it abandoned.
He opposed a bloody revolution in the country, but warned
that a part of the country could not continue to treat other parts as third
class citizens.
He said, “We are not asking for war, but
those who are treating other parts of the country as third class
citizens are the people pushing us towards a precipice. We will continue to use our intelligence to
fight the fight. Nobody will carry any weapon for war.”
Also, Odumakin faulted Nigeria’s federal structure. “What we
are doing is the unitary rule that we fraudulently call federalism.”
In a statement on Wednesday Odumakin said Afenifere was
insisting on the restructuring of Nigeria into true federalism to avoid the
agitation for separation.
Odumakin, in a
statement titled, ‘Nigeria at 60: Nigeria not at ease,’ said, “As Nigeria celebrates its 60th
anniversary in the midst of divisions, tensions and underdevelopment, Afenifere
is worried that the country has yet to find its bearing at 60.
“Only few weeks back, former President Olusegun Obasanjo
observed that the country was drifting towards state failure which was fully
backed by Prof. Wole Soyinka.
“Even the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on the eve of
the anniversary, declared that the cracks on the wall of Nigeria could lead to
its break-up. Unfortunately, the country lacks a leadership that could mend the
cracks.
“On a daily basis, all the steps being taken by our
governments are mostly the ones that could deepen the cracks.
“It is not surprising that the country is filled with
separatist feelings at 60. Afenifere is convinced that Nigeria can still be
salvaged if the right thing is done. The country must restructure immediately
into true federalism lest it gives all the necessary enablement to separatist forces.”
Also, Ohanaeze Ndigbo
described Nigeria’s present federalism as fraudulent and faulty.
The acting Secretary General and National Publicity
Secretary of Ohanaeze, Chief Uche Achi-Okpaga who spoke to one of our
correspondents, said the fraudulent practice of federalism in Nigeria was the
cause of the nation’s backwardness and lack of development.
He stated, “If you are talking about federalism, it is a
colletion or agreement that exists among federating units and in the case of
Nigeria, the federating units have to do with the Federal Government and the 36
states, and the Federal Capital Territory as is captured in the constitution.
“But here, the Federal Government lords it over states and
the Federal Capital Territory. Virtually everything is onthe Exclusive List and you are still calling it a
federation.
“What has a federation got to do with education? What has it
got to do with agriculture? What has it got to do with water resources among
others.
“The federation should concern itself with foreign affairs.
It has to do with the economy; it has to do with some specific issues that
should be handled by the Federal Government but here everything is taken over
by the Federal Government.
“Even on the Concurrent List, the states and the local
governments are virtually out and you are still calling it a federation. It is
faulty and fraudulent.”
Faulting the quota system in the country, the Ohanaeze
secretary general said federal character was not practised.
He stated, “We are
not observing federal character in Nigeria. It is just in principle. In
practice, it doesn’t exist. Do you know that appointments are no longer
advertised? Check lucrative agencies and parastatals, you can hardly see them
advertised. Nigeria Ports Authority; when last did you hear them advertise for jobs? But they
employ every time. The only one you see is the police recruitment. Customs only
advertise for junior officers and in the
course of recruitment, people just go and lose their lives.
“At the top echelons, you can’t hear them recruit. You can’t
see the adverts because one particular section of the country will fill the
empty positions with the people from their area and the problem will continue.”
But the ACF secretary general said although the group was
not afraid of restructuring, its proponents had not properly defined it.
Aliyu stated, “The North is not actually afraid of
restructuring. What we want is that ‘let’s define what is it that we want. If we want to be in Nigeria and if we don’t
want to be in Nigeria, let’s sit down and agree.”
According to him, the
North is looking at all options and is leaving all options open. He
stated, “We can restructure. We can
become a confederation. We can devolve powers. We can have state police and all
that we want. But I can tell you that
the thinking of the North now is that we should actually have a
referendum, if we want Nigeria or not. If we want Nigeria, then, we must sit down and see how
Nigeria will work.
“If we need the
country, let’s sit down and decide that we need the country first. Then
we can now sit down and decide on how our country can work for all of
us. If we decide that we don’t want the country as it is, then, I mean,
countries have gone apart,
Czechoslovakia and quite a number of other countries, including the
Sudan, had gone apart. We don’t want to
go to war.”
“The North is not going to be intimidated again to accept
anything. We have to sit down and resolve whether we want this federation or
this country as it is.”
On its part, the Middle Belt Forum lamented the plight of
its people within the Northern region saying that what used to be regarded as
“One North” had been “completely” destroyed
The National President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus
Porgu, who spoke to one of our
correspondents in Jos on Wednesday blamed the situation on the attitudes
of Muslims and their Fulani
kinsmen in the region.
He accused them of seeing the monolithic North as their own
and engaging in actions detrimental to the collective interests of other
natives within the region including the people of the Middle Belt.
Porgu said, “In the 60 years existence of Nigeria, the
people of Middle Belt have sacrificed a lot to keep Nigeria and the North
together and that is why people like Gen. T. Y. Danjuma (retd) even had to
arrest Gen Aguiyi Ironsi because of the North.
“Unfortunately, those who took away Ironsi from him killed
him, but it was in the interest of one
Nigeria and the spirit of ‘the North is
all our own’ that he did all those things .But today, if you ask General
Danjuma to do what he did, I doubt if he would do it because that monolithic
North does not exist again.
“Although Nigeria is still existing and we want it to
continue to exist, the North is never the North again.
“Rather, what defines the North presently are nepotism,
tribalism and religiosity. Our Muslim brothers, not all of them, but those of
them of Fulani extraction see the North as their own and they do whatever they
like with impunity. Unfortunately again, we have Boko Haram, militia herdsmen
and all manner of banditry, all originating from the north. And this is not the
kind of the North anybody thought we could have 60 years of our independence.
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