Presidential aide, Sani, Shittu, others disagree over Nigeria’s unity

THE Presidency and some prominent citizens, on Saturday, differed on the issue of National Question, which most Nigerians said remained the root cause of national instability.

While a presidential aide, and a top-notch executive of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said the issue had been resolved a long time ago, other stakeholders said it constituted the plank of diverse ethnic agitations over the existing federal arrangement.

Chairman, Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla; general secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani; constitutional lawyer cum lecturer, Wahab Shittu, and a former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, shared different views on the issue.

Contacted by Sunday Tribune on the matter, Obla said the avalanche of challenges facing the country was as a result of decades of bad governance and corruption among public officials.

“The National Question, for me, means that everybody or every ethnic nationality that is found in the territory defined as the Federal Republic of Nigeria must be given a sense of belonging or be treated equitably or fairly in the distribution of resources!

“Most of the agitation has to do with lack of economic opportunities, brought about by decades of bad governance and kleptocracy visited on the population by visionless leadership that the country has been subjected to,” Obla stated.

ACF general secretary, Anthony Sani, said the national question was resolved a long time ago.

Part of his response to Sunday Tribune’s message read: “To me, the national question has been settled long time ago. And in the course of improvement, many actions have been taken in the past such as creation of states, federal character, quota system, transfer of federal capital to the center of Nigeria, unity schools, NYSC, among others. All these have been process of nation building.

“I think those Nigerians who use any national challenge and resort to the national question are those who do not know that there is no such thing as a perfect country without challenges.

“If Nigerians are able to make judicious use of their democratic rights and ensure that their votes count so that the ensuing leaders will be accountable, then we are on the right path of addressing the national question or concerns,” he stated.

Shittu, on his part, said the National Question, in the context of the Nigerian equation, was the fundamental and basic issue for Nigerian survival.

“First do we want to live together as a people? Secondly, if yes, under what terms and political arrangement?  The conviction is that failure to answer and address these basic questions is at the root of Nigerian’s problems,” he stated.

In his comment, Dr Ezeife said: “The national question today is whether we should callously watch our nation disintegrate or restructure for permanence and let justice prevail.”

A former national chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths, Chief Bismarck Ikechukwu Oji, who said the National Question bothered on citizenship rights and responsibilities, noted that the country could no longer gloss over it because of the dire consequences.

“The only way of solving Nigeria’s National Question is to dialogue to determine Nigeria’s future political structure through a constituent Assembly and the resolutions ratified through a referendum. Nigeria’s nationhood must be truly negotiated and resolved,” Oji stated.