From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Archbishop of Diocese of Ibadan-North, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev’d Segun Okubadejo, said the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of the British colonies that became Nigeria in 1914 has failed.
He warned that if Nigeria would continue to exist, a new system is needed because the North and the South are not the same people that should be governed by the same constitution.
Okubadejo made the disclosure at a press conference he addressed in Ibadan on Tuesday to kickstart a weeklong activities to mark his retirement from active service and 70th birthday after 50 years as a full-time cleric in the Anglican denomination.
Apparently referring to the murder of a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, Deborah Samuel, who was a Christian, by religious extremists over alleged blasphemy against Islam, he said: “We need a new system for Nigeria, since the British contraption or amalgamation has failed. What is obtainable in the North is different from what is obtainable in the South. We are different people. We are not the same people.
“We need a new system that will guarantee a free federal structure. I am suggesting that we need a kind of strong zonal provinces at we can call confederation. I am suggesting that we should have six provinces and each province should have its constitution. I know, they (the powers that be) will not listen. But we shall continue to tell them the right thing.”
Okubadejo, who listed his achievements in the diocese within the past 24 years, however, condemned in strong terms the killing of Deborah Samuel, adding that the charges brought to court against the two suspects arrested by police in connection with her death were watery because they bordered on conspiracy and public disturbance, instead of conspiracy and murder charges. He added that “It is clear that Nigeria is at war and it is North against the South. Can you imagine that 34 lawyers went to court to defend the two suspects?”
Commenting on the 2023 general elections, Okubadejo stated that he did not know if the elections would go or not, saying if the election would hold, the South must put its act together and speak with one voice.
“We have so many presidential aspirants in the South that want to become president in 2023. This is an indication that they are just trying to fulfil their personal ambitions, and not to change the country positively. So, I urge all the presidential aspirants in the South to come together and chose a credible one among them. If they don’t know or they know it already, the coming out of many presidents from the South, is a strategy to split the votes from the South. So, I suggest to them to go for a credible person aming them, irrespective of political parties.”