SAYS BUHARI SHOULD CONSIDER 2014 CONFAB.
Senators of southern extraction have added their voices to the call for the restructuring of Nigeria.
The call was contained in a communiqué
released at the end of a three- day retreat organized by Southern
Senators Forum in Calabar, capital of Cross Rivers State. The lawmakers also called on President
Muhammed Buahri to convey a conference of stakeholders in the country
with a view to consider the report of the 2014 National Conference. The communique, which was read by the
chairman of the forum, senator Hope Uzodinma, also charged lawmakers in
the National Assembly to initiate a full scale debate on the 2014
National Conference report. The forum noted that the stakeholders
meeting would help to look at the recommendations of the committee and
offer direction to the federal government on the way forward for the
country. Senate President, Bukola Saraki had during his remark at the
opening of the retreat said that if Nigeria must allow peace and unity
thrives, she must achieve the expected development, stability and
greatness According to him, “we must always put
Nigeria first” in the ongoing debate about restructuring of the country
and other similar agitations.
“As a nation, unity is a prerequisite for
development, stability and greatness. Unity is the first focus. Without
unity, we can achieve nothing. And yet we know that, since the end of
the Nigerian Civil War, our unity has never been more challenged than at
the present time.
“There are agitations across the length
and breadth of this country that threaten our unity. And this time
around, the threats are multi-faceted, and the vegaries of modern times
have made the issues even more challenging than in the early
post-independence era.”
“In seeking to carry out any reform or
restructuring, it is worth bearing in mind that the founders of our
country, in their wisdom, had laid down some guidelines, making clear
that it cannot be done by a simple majority, but rather by a two-thirds
majority.
“To this end, we must all be on the same
page. We cannot bully or browbeat others into accepting our point of
view or positioning. Whatever we do must be by consensus, with the
buy-in of all critical stakeholders in the debate.”
In a keynote address, Deputy Senate
President, Ike Ekweremadu said that there was an urgent need for
restructuring, stressing that if the call for restructuring of Nigeria
must be achieved in all its ramifications, there must be patience, more
enlightenment and dialogue, just as he blamed misconception and
ethno-sectional suspicions for the opposition to the idea.
Ekweremadu called on proponents of
restructuring to leverage on the influence of prominent northerners,
such as former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd);
former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubabar; and President of the
Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, who believe in restructuring, to win more
converts in the north.
The Deputy Senate President who
suggested a piecemeal approach to restructuring, said that people would
gradually drop their fear and crave for more restructuring as they begin
to reap the gains of each successful restructuring effort. Other speakers at the retreat including the Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah, a former Minister of Foreing Affairs, Senator Ike Nwachukwu, and the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yoruba apex socio cultural body, Yinka Odumakin said that those oppose to restructuring are the real enemies of the country. While the Bishop of Sokoto insisted that
efforts must be made to restore our value system, make every Nigerian
subordinate to the constitution, Senator Nwachukwu said that “ events
have shown that those things that hitherto keep us together can no
longer work based on the present realities .
According to him “military did what they
did to keep Nigeria together , but that has taken a long time now . The
2014 National conference produced a fantastic report and government for
whatever reasons refused to implement it and it will be unjust if the
report is jettisoned”
Both speakers also asked the president to
consider a review of the report of the 2014 National conference which
according to them attempted to answer most of the National questions
today.
On his part, Bishop Kukah said it was
wrong for any body or group of persons to see the call for restructuring
as an attempt to dismember Nigeria, just as he stressed that there must
be openness and fairness in such debate to dispel such fears in some
regions. In his contribution, the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere
insisted on a radical shift to productive economy , where revenue
sharing formula will be based on unit contributions to the National
economy.
SOUTHERN SENATORS STANDS ON RESTRUCTURING.
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Sunday, November 26, 2017
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