Democracy Day: NADECO lists 12 conditions to unity, peace •Insists on return to federalism

TWENTY-ONE years after it led the struggle that culminated in the restoration of civil rule, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) on Thursday declared that Nigeria remained in dire straits.

Accordingly, it listed about 12 fundamental conditions, including a return to federalism, coupled with convocation of an ethnic nationalities conference to save the country from its woes. All the conditions are based on what the coalition perceived as the reneging of President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on promises that catapulted them to power since 2015.

In a lengthy statement by the national secretary of NADECO, Chief Ayo Opadokun, commemorating the 27th anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential poll and Democracy Day, NADECO claimed that the status quo ante had persisted in most spheres of the nation’s life.

The administration rose to power on the mantra of war on corruption, revamping the economy and taming insecurity across the country. NADECO listed alleged nepotism, betrayal of public trust, absence of fiscal federalism, unfilled electoral promises, high cost of governance, insecurity, sustenance of centralist and unitarist governance, weak economy, unemployment,  fiscal deficit and conditional loan facilities from China as being part of the shortcomings of the administration.

“Therefore, NADECO must of needs assert that: the seeming total disregard of this administration and its party (APC)  to fulfil its major electoral promises and manifesto that it would restore the country to federal constitutional governance if voted into office constitutes a betrayal of public trust upon which it secured its mandate in 2015,” it said.

Observing that Nigeria was not an island, the coalition said the best legacy the president could bequeath was to convoke an ethnic nationalities conference comprising genuine representatives of the nationalities to constitutionally restructure Nigeria.

“The state of the economy has not witnessed any significant and qualitative upliftment as a result of the centralist and unitarist governance. “Unemployment is still intolerably high while the standard of living of our people remains intolerably poor. In spite of the social investment programme, Trader money, N-Power projects e.t.c., the latest indicators of the world body on Human Development Index put Nigeria within the bracket of the World War ravaged areas— Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan and others in that category. Given the Godly endowment of Nigeria in human and Natural resources. Nigeria and its citizens deserve better qualitative lives.

“The security situation has not significantly improved till date. Yes, Boko Haram, an ISIS affiliate, has been pushed out of the about 20 local government areas, where it established its caliphate before the APC government but it has remained formidable and unsubdued or truly conquered in five years of Major General Buhari’s civilian presidency.

Civilian soft targets and military troops on assignments are still being violently assaulted till date. “It is equally a painful
reality during the current government that herdsmen/ bandits from both local and external wings started and are still  commenting Nigerian native farmers.”

NADECO, therefore, restated that the current centralist and unitarist government that has occasioned inequity, unfair play, injustice, discrimination and disrespect for the rule of law within the skewed, warped and lopsided national structure are unsustainable and cannot endure any longer in Nigeria’s heterogeneous society.”

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