Former national chairman, Traditional Rulers of Oil Producing Communities of Nigeria, TROMPCON, His Majesty, Charles Ayemi-Botu, has said the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo “goofed by harping” on the Nigerian constitution to insist that the country remains an indivisible entity.
Ayemi-Botu, who is a paramount ruler of Siembiri Kingdom, Delta State, made the observation in Warri, when he played host to a delegation of the United States, US, Consulate, led by Paul Hines, Political and Economic Adviser to the Consul General, who visited to find out how Niger Delta communities were fairing under the leadership of Osinbajo.
According to Ayemi-Botu, “Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, harped on the indivisibility of Nigeria and the illegality of any opinion opposed to that based on the constitution.
“Without fear or favour, the Acting President goofed in that thinking. The constitution is dynamic and amenable to change. Buhari came to power promising change, and change we want.
“The 1914 – 2014 treaty of amalgamation of Nigeria by Lord Lugard is gone and expired. Added to the force of the 2014 confab and the glaring inequality among groups where Niger Delta, the goose that lays the golden egg, is perpetual second- class citizens, the indivisibility of Nigeria has become too shaky to tarry.
“Under the circumstance, the peaceful way to go is restructuring and the best tool to achieve that is referendum. That is why we call on the US and the developed West to prevail on Federal Government to allow referendum for people to fairly determine where they want to be.
“Individuals, groups and zones can raise sentiments, but oil, particularly the vast reserves in my Niger Delta, the economic live wire the entire nation survives on is the only unifying factor for sustained unified Nigeria. But for oil which makes up 98 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, Nigeria would not have been.”
