Former presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has called on Nigerians to resist calls to dismember the country.
He said given the security situation and reality of almost total helplessness , and as the propaganda from ethnic warlords are gaining increasing attention, “many people of various ages are now questioning the sanctity of our union and the concept of indivisibility of the Nigerian state.”
Hashim, who spoke in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, said: “The truth must be told that, despite the increasingly frustrating realities in Nigeria, a united Nigeria still remains our best alternative.
“Separatists’ advocacies are always ever seductive during moment of crisis but they never deliver good results afterwards. Ask the people of Southern Sudan; after about 30 years war they seceded from Sudan, yet, they are still embroiled in factional wars between their leaders. Despite their oil wealth, their people are still wallowing in poverty and the GDP of their economy is lower than that of Ogun State.
“Ethnic or regional homogeneity of a state does not necessarily guarantee peace.We have seen countries like Somalia that are dominantly Muslims with one language but embroiled in unending war for over 30 years. Same for Ireland that is just trying to recover from internal division, where a predominantly Christian country has been divided along denominational lines of Catholics and Protestants.”
He said separatism and division do not bring justice but rather, it is good governance, sound policies and fear of God that ensure justice in the polity.
The global energy executive said now is the time for an executive-led initiative to immediately amend the exclusive, concurrent and legislative lists in the 1999 Constitution to ensure decentralisation of power “for us to effectively manage our democracy.
“The founding fathers of our Republic in the Lancaster conference of 1957/58 agreed on a Nigerian state which is indivisible and should exist in perpetuity.
“Any group of persons who claim otherwise must have their positions re-examined because they are at variance with solid historical records.
“I quite agree their is frustration in the land as a result of the problems which over-centralization of powers in the hands of the Federal Government has caused since the unfortunate military coup of 1966.
“The solution is not the dismemberment of the Republic but decentralisation of power to the component states which must start now.”