Southern stakeholders demand return of regional government

Some stakeholders from the southern part of the country have accused the north of oppressing the south and demanded a return of regional government.

They expressed this at a colloquium and leadership series organised by Group, Voice of Reason (VOR), a think-tank, in Lagos  on Thursday .

Olisa Agbakoba, former president of the Nigeria Bar Association; Aniko Briggs, prominent Niger Delta activist, Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, social entrepreneur, Tony Nyiam, a retired colonel; Abdul Tafawa Balewa, son of former Nigerian prime minister; and Sunny Kuku, founder of Eko Hispital.

In his paper at the event,  Agbakoba said the current federal arrangement is faulty.

He said the real issue was not restructuring but how to ensure that all the sub-nationals in the country involved in the restructuring process so that there would be a sense of belonging.

“The current federal arrangement is faulty, there is no lie about that but the problem is not the concept of restructuring but how do we ensure that all ethnic groups especially the sub-ethnic groups involved in this process so that there will be justice and fairness for all,” he saud.

“There is too much concentration at the centre, Abuja is over concentrated to the detriments of the sub-national ethnic entities. If we want to restructure, our differences in languages and cultures must be accommodated, we need to be cautious of our advocacy so that it will not be on a tripod while we neglect the cries of other sub-national entities.

“Benue state was bombed by herdsmen, the governor could not do anything. Zamfara Governor is lamenting. Earlier this week, the president visited Plateau state, I saw the governor fidgeting, he was scared. This must stop.”

In her own submission, Briggs said the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 brought the current burden.

“The amalgamation brought the burden on Nigeria in a way that suppressed the power to decide whether the different ethnic groups would like to live together or otherwise,” she said.

“The amalgamation foisted the entity called Nigeria on us and today we carry that burden.

“Therefore it is not politics or the political that we must address this burden through restructuring and a new constitution to be drafted by the people, not the military like that of 1999. It is only restructuring that will resolve this, we need a new constitution that will address this corruption in the real sense of it and it must be now as we approach another election year in 2019’

“We must not accept to go into 2019 elections without commitments from those who want to rule this country. We must demand that they support restructuring and resolve this issue once and for all. This is the way to go, this is the way to heal our wound.”

In his remarks, the convener of VOR, Goke Omisore said the group’s objective is to “promote culture of development, oriented values in leadership”.

Sunny Folorunso, secretary of the group, unveiled a draft of a new constitution.