By Olayinka Ajayi
To strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, the Coalition of Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities has stressed the need for “a drastic change” in the nation’s constitution.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, the coalition stated that “one hundred and nine years after the amalgamation of diverse ethnic nationalities of various sizes, cultures, and aspirations and 63 years after independence, Nigeria is still unable to live together in harmony or accept a common national identity.”
Among the representatives are the Chairman of the Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Benjamin Okaba (Chairman); the Co-Chairman of the Southern Kaduna Leadership Council, Timothy Gandu; the Niger Delta Congress, Nubari Saatah (Secretary); the Afenifere Organisation, Dr. Akin Fapohunda; the Kwararafa Peoples Assembly, Prof. Ejeikwu Oloja; the Voice of Reason in Yorubaland, Chief Owolabi Oladejo; and NADECO USA, Dr. Lloyd Ukwu, among others.
While regretting that the independence of 1960 “has turned out to be a stealthy replacement of western imperialism with the yoke of settler colonialism”, the body added that “indigenous communities in Nigeria have faced a myriad of challenges, including environmental degradation, land dispossession, the threat of annihilation, and a lack of access to essential services.”
It, therefore, called for a new constitution that would return the country to “a symmetric federal structure with a guarantee of equal representation to all regions and equitable distribution of power that would ensure the rights of every Nigerian irrespective of population, size of the region, or place of birth or faith.
Post a Comment