- ‘We need to re-create Nigeria’ – Fayemi
- Says Nigeria’s amalgamation not a mistake
As the North marks the 50th anniversary of its Centre for Historical Documentation and Research, otherwise known as Arewa House, in Kaduna, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has lamented that the North of today is a far departure from what the late Premier of the North and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello planned for the region.
The Sultan, who stated this in his remarks at the first session of the celebration, said the late Sardauna’s legacies, particularly in the education sector, are still standing tall and urged for the legacies to be sustained and improved upon.
He described the recent looting and destructions of government and private assets by hoodlums as wickedness and emphasized that poverty should not be used as an excuse to plunder the nation’s assets, while commending northern youths for exercising restrain.
The Sultan added that the people must work together to develop the North, stressing that when the region develops, it is Nigeria that is developing and advised political leaders to drop their political differences once elected and embrace everybody for peaceful co-existence. To this end, he challenged northern leaders to work hard in creating a region that will project the vision of the late Premier.
In the same vein, Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that Nigeria must be re-created to satisfy restructuring agitations, if the nation’s socio-political and economic greatness must be attained.
Governor Fayemi, who was the Guest Speaker at the occasion, on his topic, “Unfinished Greatness: Towards a More Perfect Union in Nigeria”, said, “In our quest towards a more perfect union therefore, the main challenge is one of re-creating the union and the basis of its fundamental national association.
The governor, however, said the amalgamation of Nigeria as a mistake would be wrong, both historically and conceptually, adding that it was possible to argue that the toxic legacy of the colonial ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy may be the reason that the country remained divided even 60 years after the amalgamation.
This was as the host, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufa’i, in his own speech, said restructuring Nigeria is an opportunity that should not be toyed with, as it will allow each state to be independent in managing its affairs without relying on the federal government.
He called on the federal legislators and the National Assembly Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitutional Review to take advantage of his committee’s report and initiate constitutional and legislative amendments to take care of restructuring without further delay.
