Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani has suggested what he calls the “kolanut formula” for peace and unity in Nigeria.

Some northern groups recently formed a coalition to push for the exit of Igbo from Northern Nigeria.

The northern coalition had said they were irritated by a recent call for Igbo to stay at home on May 30, in commemoration of 50 years of the declaration of Biafra and in memory of those that died in the struggle for the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra.

While advising on a way forward to the current geopolitical tension in a Facebook statement Tuesday, the Senator called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Osinbajo to constitute a National Dialogue Committee made up of eminent and respectable Nigerians from all the geo-political zones chaired by a non partisan elder statesman.

He said the committee should facilitate intellectual discourse of ideas between groups and ensure handshakes and breaking of kola nuts for peace.

“Since Kola nut is acceptable in all parts of Nigeria, it should symbolise unity and intervention for peace.

“This approach I call it ‘Kola nut Formula’ for Peace and Unity in Nigeria,” the Senator said.

A former communication aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, had dismissed a recent claim by the spokesperson of Northern Elders’ Forum, Ango Abdullahi, who said Northern Nigeria provided the resources used to develop the Southern part of the country pre-independence.

In a Facebook statement Saturday, Mr. Omokri said crucial historical facts in public domain easily countered Mr. Abdullahi’s claims.

He said Northern Nigeria could not sustain herself financially and therefore, could not have supported the South.

While aligning himself with some groups who demanded withdrawal of Nigerians of Igbo origin from the north, Abdullahi said Southern Nigeria had shown little appreciation for the invaluable contribution of the north, especially in economic development terms.

“These people always pretend that the north is cheating them, not minding the fact that Southern Nigeria was developed by resources from the north,” Abdullahi told reporters in Zaria Friday.

The stay-at-home order was announced by two pro-Biafra groups, ‎including IPOB‎, led by Nnamdi Kanu who has become the current face of Igbo secession from Nigeria.

It came a month after Mr. Kanu secured bail and walked out of prison in Abuja for the first time since he was first arrested in Lagos in October 2015.

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