The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday rejected President
Muhammadu Buhari’s position that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable,
saying Nigeria could only remain united if all ethnic nationalities
agreed to live together.
ARG, a pan-Yoruba socio-political and
economic organisation, also condemned a public statement made recently
by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in which it expressed strong
support for the president’s position that the unity of Nigeria was
non-negotiable.
A statement by its National Chairman,
Hon. Olawale Oshun, pointed out the different reasons why the unity of
Nigeria should be renegotiated.
In the statement, the ARG noted that
neither Buhari nor ACF loved Nigeria more than those advocating the
renegotiation of what binds it together as a country.
It said the unity of Nigeria was only
sustainable by the voluntary acquiescence of the component ethnic
nationalities and rejected the president’s position that Nigeria’s unity
was non-negotiable.
The group added that the problems with
the Buhari’s administration had “more to do with his conduct –
utterances and perceived lopsided appointments – which appear to portray
him as a north-centric president instead of a pan-Nigeria president”.
“Both the president and ACF need to
take lessons on managing an all-inclusive, pan-Nigerian government. We
wonder on what consensus or authority the so-termed non-negotiable unity
of Nigeria stands.
“Is it based on government’s ability
to silence all dissenters or the capability to manage a diverse society
in a manner that makes every component proud?
“Nigeria was envisioned by its
founding fathers as a federal republic, sadly its governance structure
as dictated by its constitution is akin to that of a unitary state,” the
pan-Yoruba group said.
It noted that the insistence of ACF
and by extension the president to keep the provisions of Nigeria’s
constitution from being renegotiated was the cause of many unsolvable
agitations in the country.
“These agitations can only be managed
successfully and sustainably when all Nigerians appreciate that they
need one another to bequeath a strong country on the coming
generations,” it said.
It said Nigerians of Yoruba ethnic
stock would never agree “to becoming slaves in their country and the
peaceful agitation coming from their space on the restructuring of
Nigeria, as against the violent agitation in other areas, is to
carefully underscore our belief in peaceful change, the mantra under
which the last election was won and lost”.
The group added that all who wished
Nigeria well should align with Prof. Wole Soyinka’s assertion that
Nigeria’s unity was “bloody well negotiable”.
It noted that the unity of Nigeria and
mode of governance were negotiable, adding that “the earlier we all
start working towards this, the better for the development, peace and
unity of the country”.
In its own reaction to Buhari’s
position that the unity of the country was not negotiable, IPOB asked
the president to wake up to the reality of the Nigerian situation.
IPOB, which prides itself as a famous
worldwide revolutionary movement, vehemently condemned the idea that
every component part of the “contraption called Nigeria must remain in
the artificial marriage, which has not been working since 1914”.
“It is unfortunate that somebody in
that cadre cannot ascertain and does not know that the situation in the
country now calls for unity renegotiation,” IPOB said in a statement
signed by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful.
The pro-Biafra group pointed out that
the British colonial masters amalgamated the northern and southern
protectorates without consultation in 1914, adding that no section of
the country currently wants to stay with the other as evidenced by the
agitation and militancy across the land.
IPOB said in view of the present realities, there was no need for Buhari and those like him to continue to live in the past.
“Rather, the government in power and
the new generation of Nigerians should come together and discuss the
basis for one Nigeria instead of forcing people to remain as one.
“Forcing people to maintain the
citizenship of the country outside their indigenous identities is
fraudulent and it will not work because the people of 1914 and 2016 are
different and are not the same,” it stated.
IPOB said: “It is degrading and
embarrassing that the APC-led government has continued to play the
ostrich when things are already falling apart” and wondered if it lacked
good advisers who have an idea of the precarious situation the country
was heading.
The group reiterated its position that
there was no going back “in the quest for the restoration of the nation
of Biafra”, adding that “no human being can bring us back because it is
the project of God Almighty”.
“More so, we the indigenous
people of Biafra want to inform the general public that without the
government of Buhari addressing this issue of Biafra and releasing our
leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally the country will not have
peace,” IPOB said.
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