Irked by the seeming delay to heed the call for the immediate restructuring of Nigeria that has led to agitations across the country, a coalition of traditional rulers and Civil Society Organisations in the Niger Delta region have called for a break-up of Nigeria if the Federal Government refuses to heed the call.
Under fire for feigning ignorance for the call for restructuring is Chief John Odigie Oyegun, the Chairman of Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The groups, Niger Delta Security Watch Organization of Nigeria, NDSWN, Ijaw People Development Initiative, IPDI, and Foundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade, FHRACC, led by Bekederemo Dickson, Austin Ozobo and Alawoei Cleric, respectively, in a statement, warned that the only alternative to restructuring was separation.
On his part, a royal father in the Niger Delta region, Dr. Chukwumela Nnam-Obi, II, the Oba of Ogbaland, said that restructuring was the recipe that would ensure unity and the development of every part of the country.
The rights groups in a joint statement declared that, “We read with shock, the outburst by the APC National Chairman, Odigie-Oyegun, saying that APC is not in support of restructuring of Nigeria. It is imperative to note that Nigeria is bigger than APC, Odigie-Oyegun and that their position will not really determine the divisibility of Nigeria.
“Whether APC manifesto supports restructuring or not, it does not matter. What matters is the wishes of generalities of Nigerians. We want to state here that the quest for restructuring this structurally defective country back to the very political structure at independent is beyond Odigie-Oyegun and his party.
“It is a political tsunami that no man can stop with rhetoric or appeal to sentiment. The alternative to restructuring of this country to the very structure at independent upon, which our unity and indivisibility was built is separation by any means necessary.
“In the very words of lBB, it is an ideal that has come to stay. Those who are opposed to restructuring will live to regret their ill informed decisions. The claim that APC is about providing food for Nigerians and not restructuring falls below expectation. We are constrained to inform Odigie-Oyegun and his APC that what Nigerians desire urgently are justice, fairness and equality. These can only be actualized through restructuring.
“We want Nigeria to be a true federal state with six autonomous regions. Each of the regions contributing equally to a common pulse as it was in our independent constitution of 1960.
“Again, we equally disagree with Junaid Mohammed of his uninformed position of no restructuring of this lopsided Nigeria state. We are
