The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has called on secessionist agitators to give a chance for dialogue adding that dividing Nigeria will create weaker Republics.
The Governor who stated this in Abuja in his keynote address at the second Public Lecture Series organized by the All Progressives Congress, APC Press Corp, noted that the world will lose respect for Africa if Nigeria divides.
“The world will not respect Africa anymore if Nigeria comes to harm and our ‘Mandela The Great’ won’t sleep well if we blow up this opportunity to lead the black race. That is why we the leaders need to come together to appeal to our aggrieved people who are agitating for self-determination at this time.
“The ‘Biafran’ agitators and a small section of the Yoruba nation agitating for Oduduwa Republic should therefore always have this at the back of their minds in their political calculations and transformations. It is on record that the great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria, was an Igbo man and also a perfect negotiator and foremost champion of Nigeria’s unity.
“The same for the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He never agitated for secession. He was loud and clear on the restructuring of the federation. And that demand is even louder and the debate is on and no one is troubling agitators for agitating for restructuring of the federation. What is more, the governing party, the APC has a working document already on this (restructuring). This is the way we should all go. There should be no secession distraction at this time.
“Therefore, at this point in the country’s history, all right-thinking citizens, irrespective of their tribal and religious inclinations should bond together to sustain the corporate existence of the most populous and naturally endowed nation in Africa. We must shun temptations and anger capable of leading us into more turbulent time that cannot be controlled as we have in some North African and Middle Eastern countries” Governor Ganduje said.
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One of the discussants at the lecture, the former governor of Imo state and a sitting senator, Rochas Okorocha said Nigerians were not given the opportunity by the colonial masters to discuss living together before the amalgamation adding that leaders have a major role to play in keeping Nigeria united.
“Our amalgamation without the people coming together to discuss and how they can respect each other has been a major issue and secondly, we were not able to create a myth. So, we need more of a myth than what we call reality.
“What we must do as a people is to address the issue of injustice as a nation, starting from the stomach injustice which we call hungry. For instance, I don’t have any enemy from the North or South West. The biggest political problem I have recently is from the South East, from my State.
“Number two, every leader that emerges in this country must treat Nigeria as a family, must never show segregation of any kind. If you know an Igboman, an Igboman is not asking for anything, he’s asking for a level playing ground. Do you know if today people are doing what Ganduje did in Kano, giving Igbo people appointments, if every other Governor does that shows a sign of love beyond the area of tribe and religion, you will be uniting this country” Senator Okorocha said.
The APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni commended the APC Press Corp for all the publicity it had been giving the party.
Governor Buni was represented by a former Senate President in Nigeria, Ken Nnamani.
Senator Nnamani said that if the system of government in Nigeria was efficient, people would not want to divide the country.
“I have a simple definition of restructuring and that is making something more efficient than you met it. If we must tell ourselves the truth, the structure of our government is neither efficient nor effective. We should make our government more efficient and more effective.
“Some things can be done more efficiently and that also implies restructuring. Restructuring does mean dividing our country. Because the more united we are the better we are as a country. So any reasonable person who witnessed the Biafran war with Nigeria will never preach anything near war. You won’t wish your enemy to go through that. So for those who were not borne then, who takes delight in pronouncing war, it is not African magic, that you stay back and watch. It is a thing you may not come back. And those shouting war, under three weeks of the battle they are gone. So nobody will wish our country another war” he said.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Union of journalists, FCT Chapter, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche also contributed to the discussion at the lecture.
The Minister of State, FCT, Minister of Women Affairs, Senators and House of Representatives members contributed to the discussion and they all spoke in one voice, the need for Nigeria to remain a united nation.
The theme of the lecture was Sustaining A United And Indivisible Nigeria: A Myth Or Reality.
Nnenna.O
