From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Elder statesman, Edwin Clark, has kicked against calls for the break-up of some parts of the country, saying it was not the solution to Nigeria’s problems.
He said even amid rising insecurity and economic challenges, he does not believe in Nigeria’s break-up.
The elder statesman said, rather than the break-up calls, workable strategies should be evolved to solve the problem of insecurity and other challenges making life unbearable for Nigerians.
“Nigeria will remain one. Some of us do not believe in the call for secession. Where do we go to, who are we leaving the country for, who owns it. We cannot flee, where do we go. Though I am seeing this danger, but I do not believe that Nigeria will split.
“Recently 17 Southern governors met and they also agreed that Nigeria will remain one. They are not just PDP, but also APC governors.
“Even during the civil war in 1967, we never believed Nigeria would break up and the war eventually ended in 1970.
“That was the nearest we got to breaking up, but Nigeria did not break up,” he said.
Clark reiterated his call for restructuring, recalling that the 2014 National Conference and the committee headed by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, made recommendations that would go a long way in helping the country restructure.
He said: “All we are saying is that we should restructure the country. Let us devolve power to the states. They should be the federating units.
“We should refer to the 2014 National Conference report of over 600 recommendations. We do not need to convoke another confab.
“The confab report in addition to what APC produced under Governor Nasir El-rufai’s committee are enough to create a true federal system of government in Nigeria.”
Clark stressed that unless Nigeria returned to a federal system of government, like in 1963, the restructuring process would not be complete.
“Let us have a federal system of government as we had in 1963. Once that is done, there will be peace in Nigeria. With that, every region will have a state police.”