- by Amanze Ajoku, with agency reports -
In a surprising new twist of replay of Aburi, Southwest leaders yesterday rose from a high-level summit in Ibadan, Oyo State, demanding a new Constitution to reorder what they called the country’s “malfunctioning federal system”.
At the end of their maiden ‘Legislative Summit on Regional Integration’, Osun Governor, Aregbesola unveiled a new flag for a new autonomous Southwest, to be based on a new constitution that will recognise what they euphemistically called ‘regional integration’ that will have a weak federal government with strong regions, exactly what was agreed at Aburi between Gowon and Ojukwu back in 1967, but which Gowon with the help of Awolowo reneged on, thus plunging Nigeria into a 30-month civil war that claimed 3 million lives.
Agency reports, including the Nation newspaper report that ‘Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and a former university teacher, Prof Adesegun Banjo, emphasised the need to restructure the country to reverse the current arrangement where the centre is allocated more powers than it requires at the expense of the constituent states’.
To achieve this, they called for the amendment of the Constitution to create a weak centre and robust states that could afford the federating units’ autonomy to determine their pace and strategies for growth.
Former Federal Director of Budget High Chief Olawale Kuye said regional integration would herald healthy competition among the six geo-political regions. The eminent technocrat delivered a lecture entitled: “Regional economy: Reviving a viable past.”
“Regional integration is all about a new Constitution, to reorder Nigeria’s malfunctioning federal system. The National Assembly cannot give us a new Constitution.
“That is the job for a Constituent Assembly, thereafter subjected to referendum or plebiscite. But it (National Assembly) should facilitate the process by passing a bill for setting up a Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution, which product would be subject to a simple referendum of ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” they said.
The leaders resolved to hold a broader and larger meeting on the implementation of the initiative. They also resolved to set up a peer review committee to coordinate strategies for implementation.
Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola described Southwest regional integration as an idea whose time has come, urging the zone to pursue the initiative with courage, determination and relentless zeal.
He also called for a peer review to be incorporated into the implementation process, adding: “there must be a formal arrangement where each state government must be assessed and its performance reviewed by its peers”.
In his submission, Banjo urged the leaders to give bite to their words, arguing that the refusal of the federal authorities to heed calls for a Sovereign National Conference was because they believe the proponents of such conference lack the force to compel its convocation.
The summit, held at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan, was organised by Vintage Press, publishers of The Nation.
Those on facebook should check my info. I have never believed in Nigeria for the obvious unreconcilable differences. What people failed to notice about the nature of every country is this, for every country there are certain particular group whose leadership is permanently accepted by the rest either openly or implicitly. This is a natural course of event. Here we are tlaking of the culture not the human mass. Mention any country from Ameriaca to Kenya up to Vietnal and Brazil , i wil tell you which cultural group rules either peacefully or by force.
It is precisely this natural tendency for a larger or more powerful cultural group in any politico-economic system to seek to take the lead. Now in Nigeria there are three( or five including nigerdeltans and the christian enclave of the north if the choose to strike it out on their own) powerful blocks of cultural influence in hot competition for obsolute control advertently or inadvertently. What do you think informed Awolowos 1962(just 2 years into independance) coup attempt against the government of Zik/Balewa? What do think infirmed Ezegwus 1966 coup? What do think informed Abacha’s and also Obasanjo’s relocation of major armarnents of the country to their respective regions of origin?
religion or no religion, tribe or no tribe, non of the major cultural group will accept permanent leadership of any other group for they know the economic and cultural implication of it. The struggle shall continue, the bloodbath shall be a cyclical and seasonal affair untill one day total mayhem engulf us all.
We do not need unity in term of uniformity because thats a mirage and a fiction- no two peoples will be completely one with following the other parmanently, moreso with such fundametal cultural differences as found in Nigeria. Forget about rotional presidency, that uncrical, fragile political expediency that will always rotate us back to square one. If u insist, then we may ask, in whose image are the rest willing to change, because we cant unite in a cultural vacuum! And who is will willing for the sake of an abstract name called Nigeria to change permanently into the others culture or a new culture unknown before with the other guy ruling?
We have seen how even the most outspoken advocates of detrbalisation and unity gather their kinsmen and exclude others when given leadership in a federal position. For instance, when Wole Soyinka who considers himself the most educated intellectual in Nigeria was given leadership of the Federal Road Safety Commissio, 95 percent of the staff members he emplayed across the federation from Enugu to Damaturu were his yoruba kinsmen. This action caused widespread protests from the other big tribes leading to his being relieved of his position. Such is the nature of man. If you plan excluding this factor, your plan is fated to fail!
Nigeria is an aberretion in the sense that its a cultural no mans land, all the corruption and all the violence are a function of lack of permanent leadership of a powerful all dominating cultural group to whom all look up to for leadership as found in all other peaceful countries with different peoples in it. You will realise this when you look at other war torn hetrgenious countries, it is precisely when one tribe is losing out or has lost out in leadership that violence erupted until all are succumbed by one or the countries become devided.
We are human, we cant be different. We are only being foolish out of greed of some individuals that we propagate obsulute unity under a deep seated mutual mistrust. for our own safety and peaceful future we dont really need political and cultural unity. We can cooperate in other spheres like trade, but definitely we will never be one politically. Which cultural block will the rest agree to surrender permanent leadership to for them to follow as found in all stable countries at all times of human history?
It is high time we become realistic, and restructure our path into history.Nigeria as it is not the only option. We are creative to accept a century long confusion(1914 amalgamation) as fait accompli. Iam aware there could be difficulties as to practical hows. But then no good thing comes easy. I support the loosening of the political bondage to whatever level. Anything more decentralising including complete independence of the major blocks is better than the current fake and confused, yet dangerous uiformity with an all dominating center. At least, the new nations that might emerge will be bigger in population and land mass, richer in material and non-material resources than so many other independent nations in the world. The peace and stability it will usher in will be to the good of all humanity! At long last the all rejuvenating spirit of Biafra is rising. Biafra is no longer a tribal concept. It is now universal plitical phenomenum symbolising reality,hope and peace. We all need to Biafranise for stable, secured and peaceful future!
good morning awolowo in hell. ojukwu continue to rest in peace since your death nigeria have never know peace, it shows that you holds the key to nigeria unity.
my brothers if defounding fathers of dis our great nation were like beloved brothers looking for common front why cant we emula te them and live peace as bro&sisters may god make us see reason .
I believe every genuine southern agitation for regional integration, sovereign national conference or whatever you call it is in order and stems from the fact that we have been shortchanged,cheated and i believe diabolially hypnotized in the saprophytic union of 1914.how can you explain the situation when in pre-colonial nigeria the british with all they know about us created 14colony in the north with a region while 21colony in the south with two region .after oloibiri and other finds, the north with an unholy assistance with britain began their thinktank using the in-thing then which is the military,police and the custom. with these and their insatiable lust for power every known and imaginable coup had to involve them and they began to impose their selfish tribal dictators who started collapsing regions into states(at the last count19 states plus abuja in the north while 17 state in the south imagine) and forward 35yrs on, the vice president,senate president,house of representative speaker,inspector general of police,controller general of custom”which of cause has become thier birthright”,chief justice of the federation, minister of justice and attorney general of the federation and the chairman of the economic and financial crime commission are from the north. why will the other region not cry foul? when a state as mineral poor like abia produces more than the whole northern region but the north insist on continually cheating and lording over us.the south has granted the north amnesty for far too long in this union and it is now suffocating and burdensome.
The article: “======== exactly what was agreed at Aburi between Gowon and Ojukwu back in 1967, but which Gowon with the help of Awolowo reneged on, thus plunging Nigeria into a 30-month civil war that claimed 3 million lives.”
Amanze Ajoku, I believe you took “WHISKY” for breakfast before writing this bogus article, especially concerning the participation of Chief Obafemi Awolowo; even before Odumegwu Ojukwu was conceived, Papa Awolowo had forestalled “On Aburi we stand”. Read the the article of Chief Obafemi Awolowo on “PATH TO FREEDOM” circa 1957, Western Nigeria Press. Read and be better re_educated. Papa Awolowo was called all sorts of names, viz: Tribalist, Segregationist, and prophet of doom by South East Uppity politicians lead by Nnamdi Azikwe (famous ZIIIIIIIIK of Africa). Papa Awolowo and Chief Enahoro went to jail ( 10 & 15 years respectively) for “TREASON” for trying to break away from Nigeria. If your south east forefathers have reasoned gogently with Pa Awolowo, Chief Enahoro, and Mallam Aminu Kano, Odumegwu Ojukwu’s demand would have been of NO SIGNIFICANCE. Ojukwu went to Aburi with a wrist watch tape recorder, we are very curious to analyze the contents illegally embedded in this watch. Anjoku, this BAD Journalism on your behalf.
@ Brown Judge.
Your comment is too long yet you did not say anything about this true story of Yorubas demanding autonomy or week centre this late in he day. The question is why demand it now after losing 3 million lives fighting and plotting against it. Anther question is what Yorubas are really up to this time, after goading Igbos into it in 1967 only to back out and fight Igbos in the fronts. Yet, another question is whether it’s better to have let the Far Northerners take your Niger Delta oil for themselves and impoverish you than coexisting peacefully with your igbo neighbours. I am Igbo as you might have guessed and despite your goadings and silly assumptions, I chose to remain a Nigeian till we all perish here together. My only joy is that the Ijaw, Yoruba, Bini, Northern Minorities, etc that joined together to defeat a great cause in 1967 will also perish together with erybody else. I might add that even the Boko Haram that is the militant wing of the far North even wants a separate Sharia state, another way of saying Araba (secession) that hemp-smoking, war criminal Auchi man Murtala Mohammed wanted for the North in 1967. Contradiction is another name for Nigeria. You can also say God-forsaken. Mr Brown Judge, I hail you in your raging frustrations and contradictions, just as I hail Nigeria, the Mother of all Contradictions. And there you have it
One thing so common about many Ibos is that they are one sided on almost everything outside them in ways their attitude are more or less no different from the Moslem fundamentalism. Of course Ojukwu reason to secede from Nigeria was real and justified if you ask me – in which anyone in his shoe would have reacted or felt the same way. But there were so many things he and his adviser did wrong that contributed to their failure, including that the Ibos overlooked underestimated many of their weaknesses. They did not took into account many issues left unresolved or settled before going to war, including the fact that they were (without notice) including groups that were not Ibos without proper arrangement which added to their woe. That tells us that you cannot force people different from you to be part of you without proper settlement, which is the same fundamental problem with Nigeria. One wonder why the Ibos are not accepting such silly mistakes and take responsibility them, minorities never trusted the Ibos with their experiences under the old Eastern government controlled by the Ibos, in which minorities were crazily abused by the Ibos. The Ibos behaviors under the old Eastern government were a signal that no minorities will want to be part of the Ibos even the fact they distasted Nigeria as one nation. The Ibos complains about what this group did and didn’t do are way too much and will not help to resolve anything if such complains continue in my view. My guess is that most groups in Nigeria (truly) do not want to be part of Nigeria and if there are any such groups I bet you will find them well in the Niger Delta region. The reasons are that, politically and economically speaking Niger Delta minorities are the most disadvantaged, most victimized groups in the Nigeria project, not the Ibos. One reasons the Ibos looked so victimized is because they have a competitive presence at the so call federal level and there is a battleground for the big three for the share of unearned cake, although the cake they see as free is a poison cake that will consume them because the owners are happy and so God is not happy! The Ibos should stop blaming their woes on others; they should accept their nemesis and move on with corrective measures which is the anyway at this critical time.
Thats why ikemba mockinly refered to Awo as “the best
president Nigeria never had.
The evil that men do, lives
after them.
The end they say, justities the (a)
means.
Truth remains evergreen, false hood is often opened up.
To cook up evil to fight good, can
only last a while.
Ikemba, rest in peace. Awo, may
God forgive you.
Hope there is a way you can return and tell the evil genuses of
our time, to change thier ways.
But why are the yoruba not asking for their own nation? Why do they still want anything to do with nigeria if they are sincere?