Is IPOB, MASSOB insistence on secession justified?

Mr. Olola Kasum (President-General, Afonja Descendants Union)

Secession is not the solution. People are asking for secession because they are being marginalised. They are agitating because they feel they are being unfairly treated.

Araba (divide) was started by the Hausa. Some of these Hausa people have always been against the unity of Nigeria.  In 1950, during the delineation of federal constituencies, some of them said if they were not allowed to control half of the total number of the constituencies, they would leave the union. They used that to get what they were looking for.

In 1953, when late Chief Anthony Enahoro moved a motion for Nigeria’s independence from Great Britain, they repeated the Araba slogan. They said they were not ready for independence, claiming that they were manipulated by the colonial masters. In 1967, (General) Yakubu Gowon said the basis of unity no longer existed; he is also a northerner.

Northerners were the first set of people to call for secession, not the Igbo. Secession is not the solution to Nigeria’s problems; there must be equality. Today, the people producing the wealth of the nation do not benefit from it. Imagine all these former top military officers owning oil blocks in the Niger Delta and using the proceeds from these oil fields to develop the north.

We must go back to 1963 where each region was fending for itself and contributing to the centre. Restructuring is important. Nigerians worked hard; they produced and contributed to the centre. We now have a situation where a few people with access to public funds loot the nation with reckless abandon. We need Nigeria to remain as one. Those agitating should unite and make sure we return to the 1963 Constitution.

• Dr Iro Aghedo (Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Benin)

Secession cannot solve the problems of Nigeria. The reason is that when one part secedes, considering the multi-ethnic groups we have in each geopolitical zone, the issue of majority and minority groups will equally rear its head. The group that sees itself as a minority in the new region, will begin a fresh agitation for secession. For instance, in Edo State, some people are agitating for the creation of Afemai-Esan as a state. Once that succeeds, before you know it, one of the two will become either the majority or minority. The call for secession will then repeat itself.

The problem we have is that people who are at the helm of affairs use the resources of the state to maintain their own area and personal interests. Those whose interests are not adequately catered for begin to agitate for the creation of a separate state to develop their own area.

When there is good governance, the idea of secession will go away. It is the lack of good governance that fuels most of these agitations. For now, the Federal Government is not doing enough to address these agitations. Instead of harassing the agitators and detaining them without prosecution, it should engage them in a dialogue and ask them, sincerely, what they want. Many of these agitators are deploying the clamour for secession as a bargaining chip to achieve political goals.

Government should engage them in a dialogue and ask them what they want. They can see that the South-East is lacking in infrastructure, so it can ask agitators what can be done. It is that approach that is needed. Implementing the recommendations of the 2014 national conference will be a good idea. The Federal Government is not willing to do that at the moment.

Even though people say that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly used the conference to enrich some of his friends, the decisions that came out of it are very germane and can address the national question. For instance, the South-East has been clamouring for an additional state to bring it at par with some other geo-political zones. I conducted a research in that area and discovered that the roads are in a state of disrepair. If they are repaired, before you know it, the people agitating for secession will begin to talk about other issues.

• Tanko Yakassai (National Chairman, Northern Elders Council)

The people of Nigeria are not interested in dismembering this country. I will ask you a question, have you heard that Hausas, Yorubas and Igbos are fighting one another anywhere in Nigeria?

What is happening is that the elite are struggling to get one concession or another from the rest of the country.

The elite from one section of the country are using Nnamdi Kanu to try to get concessions from the rest of Nigeria. There are elite from the South-West who are remnants of the defunct Action Group who have been coming under different guises, like NADECO, PRONACO and now restructuring, to try to force the rest of Nigeria to make concessions to them instead of coming out with a blueprint of their ideas to convince the rest of us on the best option which will be beneficial for nation building.

You can’t intimidate people to accept your agenda. What you can do is to sell your idea and build a consensus. Any victory achieved through blackmail cannot last long.

• Olubunmi Fajobi (Chairman, Ogun State chapter, Trade Union Congress)

Secession is not the solution to Nigeria’s problems. This is because our problems are varied, the most pressing being trust.

There is a climate of mutual distrust which was planted by the British colonialists to ensure they maximized the exploitation of their colonial estate, which was how they saw us.

This distrust was further promoted by the numerous military coups, counter-coups and the unfortunate civil war the nation went through. These basically dismembered the nation.

We compounded it with our diverse and variegated faiths, beliefs, and cultures, which continue to be with us even if we choose to break up.

Secession is not the best way out as we will continue to see reasons to break further. Even towns within a local government will aspire to secede just like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia experiences have shown.

However, our deliberate effort to grow trust, equity and justice will go a long way to cement our relationship as a united and indivisible nation.

The political class has a critical role to play in this area. We also need the judiciary and all law enforcement agencies so that whether rich or poor, everybody will be treated equally before the law.

• Rt. Rev. Tunde Adeleye (Bishop, Calabar Diocese, Anglican Communion)

I have said it several times that secession is not the answer to Nigeria’s problems. As far as I am concerned, the answer to the problems in this country is true federalism. All the meetings, seminars and conferences will amount to nothing until we begin to think of true federalism.

We were not a people together before; we were put together merely for administrative and managerial reasons. Honestly speaking, we do not have the same culture and tradition. Nobody can say the tradition of my village in Edo State is the same as another in any other place. People who come together should have something to present; but the presentation and the offering of this nation is lopsided.

Some people are bringing pieces of meat when others have large quantities of garri and soup; this is unfair.

So, we cannot operate as it were, a unitary government. It is unreasonable, tactless, dangerous and meaningless. Only true federalism can bring us out of these  problems and that true federalism will be a situation where the component   units will be allowed to own and manage their resources and then we can have a loose central government.

As we are now, the centre is too powerful.  Everybody is looking towards Abuja to beg for money. If you finish serving your term as a governor, the next focus is to go to Abuja to move around Aso Rock. Like it is in the United States and other federations, let each state own their police, schools, hospitals, prisons and the rest. They should only send their contributions to the centre.

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Is IPOB, MASSOB insistence on secession justified?

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