Speaking yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State capital at an event to marks the 25 anniversary of its creation, Igwe Achebe, observed that the present political arrangement in Nigeria had proved to be unworkable. He said that going by the support for the restructuring among Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities and prominent individuals, there was need to embark on it as it would give everybody a sense of belonging.
According to Igwe Achebe, on June 1, 2016, former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said that restructuring would make governance less centralised, less suffocating and less dictatorial. He also recalled that the former chief justice of Nigeria, Alhaji Dahiru Musdafar had also advocated that the 2015 presidential election further divided the country along ethnic, religious, regional and partisan lines.
Similarly, Igwe Achebe added that many ethnic groups, including those in the Niger Delta, as well as the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, were demanding cessation over the existing imbalances in the country. He also recalled that the southwest leaders sometime ago, approved a memorandum, saying that there is need for Nigeria to be restructured in a way that no ethnic group should feel marginalised.
Igwe Achebe said: “The youths in the southeast feel that they have been constitutionally marginalised compared with their counterparts in other regions. They feel that the present configuration perpetually puts them at great disadvantage, hence their demand to opt out of Nigeria.
“Also, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta argues that the resources from their area are controlled by a very strong federal government in Abuja, while their area which produces the resources is left with virtually nothing.”
Igwe Achebe said that with these agitations, the way out was for restructuring in a way that the various interest groups would have a sense of belonging in the nation. In the lecture titled, Think Nigeria, Invest in Anambra, he also advised that Ndigbo should urgently address their readiness to survive under any arrangement in Nigeria by investing at home, rather than concentrating their investments and developing other parts of the country to the detriment of their area.
“We are individually successful, but collectively, we are very much divided. Other ethnic nationalities that share Nigeria with us are seriously maximizing their collective interests,” Igwe Achebe noted.
He added that Ndigbo should not fold their hands until the restructuring materialised, advising that they should try their best under the present circumstances to maximize their efforts to benefit their area. Among those present at the well-attended lecture were former vice president Dr Alex Ekwueme, former president-general of Ohaneze Ndigbo Dr Dozie Ikedife, former governor of Anambra State Dame Virginia Etiaba, Senator Joy Emeodi and speaker of the state House of Assembly Mrs Rita Maduagwu, who represented Governor Willie Obiano.
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