A creation of Nigeria called the South-South region has lost confidence in the future of the Nigerian politics and seriously decided to demand the restructuring of Nigeria as a way forward for Nigeria.
Leaders of the South-South have enjoined the Federal Government to take the issue of restructuring seriously, stressing that ‘change’ should begin with it. The region also demanded a new constitution that would define the powers of the Federal Government and the federating units, adding that restructuring would strengthen the nation’s unity.
Governor NyesomWike of Rivers State told the leaders that the Presidency and the ruling party at the national level, All Progressives Congress, APC, were not true to the restructuring the country. The summit where those resolutions emerged was held in Port Harcourt, yesterday, and organized by the Project Nigerian Movement. The conveners were Obong Victor Attah, Prof KimseOkoko, Mr Donald Duke, Chief IduAmaidhe, Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) and OCJ Okocha (SAN). Addressing the occasion, the first governor of old Rivers State, King Alfred Diete Spiff, noted that the problem of Nigeria started when the military modified the nation’s constitution of 1960 in 1979 when gave power to former President ShehuShagari.
He urged President MuhammaduBuhari to heed the calls from different ethnic nationalities on restructuring if he (Buhari) is actually bent on changing the nation for good. Spiff said: “ I am all ears to hear how the people will convince the powers that be on restructuring. ‘Change’ begins with restructuring.” Meanwhile, Wike noted that the report of the All Progressives Congress, APC, committee on restructuring, headed by the Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, was designed to deceive the people. Wike, who spoke through the state Head of Service, Mr. Godwins Rufus, noted that for the decision of the APC to have come close to the general elections showed that it was political. A co-convener of the summit, Attah, noted that what the region is demanding is a return to a Nigeria that works for all.
In another development, Elder statesman and South-South leader, Senator Edwin Clark, yesterday, lamented that the Federal Government does not heed advice, saying the attitude was hampering the peace process in the Niger Delta. The former Federal Commissioner for Information, who spoke at a meeting of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, at Kiagbodo, Delta State, said he found the situation abnormal, as it had put the leaders conscientiously working for peace in the region in bad light. His words: “We saw that we are dealing with a government that believes in itself and they are not in touch to listen to.”
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