*Disagrees with IPOB 'unfair' terrorist tag
By Our Reporter
The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia
Nwodo, has maintained that restructuring
of Nigeria is the answer to the wave of agitations currently hitting across
Nigeria.
Nwodo who delivered a lecture at the Royal Institute
of International Affairs, Chatham House in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday said the country is ripe for
restructuring now more than before because all indicators point to that fact.
In his paper titled: ‘Restructuring Nigeria:
Decentralisation for National Cohesion’, Nwodo took a historical look at
Nigeria's political journey and concluded that the present structure in
operation has failed because it's not created by the Nigeria people.
"Our present constitution is not autochthonous. It was
not written by the people of Nigeria. It was not approved in a national
referendum. In jurisprudence, its effectiveness will score a very low grade on
account of its unacceptability. Regrettably, it continues to hold sway and begins
with a false proclamation, ‘We the People of Nigeria’," he said.
While answering question from the Chairman of the occasion
and the Editor of African Business Magazine, Mr. Lanre Akinola, on the
imperatives of the restructuring now, Nwodo said never in the history of
Nigeria has there been harmony to reshape the country as it is now.
In his speech, Nwodo said the entire southern Nigeria and
parts of the middle belt are unanimous for the restructuring of the country.
He also said the disenchantment in the country over the
existing structure is such that it would be gloomy if the desires of majority
of the people are not met or continue to be deliberately ignored.
The Ohanaeze leader berated the federal government for
declaring the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) as terrorist organisation
when their activities do not merit them such status, adding that the same
government overlooked the activities of more dangerous armed militant groups
like Fulani herdsmen whom they merely branded criminals.
"The declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organisation is
in my view, hurried, unfair and not in conformity with the intendment of the
law. Whereas I am not completely in agreement with some of the methods of IPOB-its
inappropriate and divisive broadcast-the uncontested evidence given by the
Attorney General of the Federation in an interlocutory action claiming that
IPOB members attempted and/or actually snatched guns from law enforcement
agents are, if proven, merely criminal offences. They do not constitute enough
evidence to meet international law definitions of a terrorist organisation.
Happily, the United States Embassy in Nigeria only three days ago shared this
conclusion and asserted that the US government does not recognise IPOB as a
terrorist organisation.
"This same unarmed IPOB that is being stigmatised by the
Nigerian Government had its members murdered in Asaba, Nkpor, Aba and Port
Harcourt simply for having public demonstrations without the federal government
ordering a judicial inquiry. Instead, after I called for one and Amnesty
International provided evidence that 150 of them were killed, the Chief of Army
Staff Yusuf Burutai, set up an inquiry composed of serving and retired army
officers thus abandoning the rules of natural justice which prescribes that you
cannot be a judge in your own court," he stated.
Speaking on the need for restructuring of the
Nigerian federation, Ohanaeze leader said: "A model based on sharing of government
revenue must give way to a new structure that will challenge and drive
productivity in different regions across the country. This new model must take
into account that the factors driving productivity in today’s world are no
longer fossil oil rather it’s the proliferation of a knowledge-based
economy."
He noted that the restructuring of Nigeria into smaller
and independent federation limits and the devolution of powers to these
federating units to control exclusively their human capital development, mineral
resources, agriculture and power (albeit with an obligation to contribute to
the federal government), is the only way to salvage Nigerian fledging economy.
Nwodo expressed regret that those campaigning
against restructuring in Nigeria have painted an unfortunate and untrue picture
that those of us in support of restructuring are doing so in order to deny the
Northern states which have not yet proven any oil reserves of the ability to
survive.
“This is unfortunate! The new model we propose for
Nigeria recognises that revenue in the world today is promoted by two main
sources namely, human capital development leveraging on technology to drive the
critical sectors of the economy and agriculture.
"Ten years ago, the top ten companies in the
world were the likes of Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total. Today the top eight
companies in the world are represented by technology-related companies. They are
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon," the Igbo leader said.
On the deployment of federal troops to the region, Nwodo said:
"Our endurance has been stretched beyond Hooke’s gauge for elastic limit. The
deployment of the Nigerian army under the guise of Operation Python Dance II to
the Southeast was unconstitutional under Section 271 of the 1999 Constitution,"
noting that it was intended to provoke the people.
Nwodo charged President Muhammadu Buhari to rise up to the
challenge and lead the process of restructuring this country.
The discourse at Chatham house was witnessed by a
cross section of Nigerians resident in UK as well as the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe
Achebe.
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