First Republic Aviation Minister and the only surviving Zikst Movement, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attach, on Thursday called for urgent renegotiation of the nation’s constitutional and political foundation in order to save it from further slide to anarchy.

The elder statesmen, who spoke at an event to mark 20 years anniversary of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), urged the Federal Government to set in motion a process of structural, economic and and political reform to further deaths and economic hardship in the country. Specifically, Amaechi painted a gloomy picture of a country full of danger and fear, where corrupt and criminal elements are in charge; warning that it may sink any day.

The nonagenarian, who described himself as one of the10 surviving freedom fighters in Nigeria, insisted that Nigeria cannot make meaningful progress without true federalism which guarantees resource control. Amaechi, who also received an award of Great Pillar for Consistency at the ceremony, said: “For there to be permanent peace, the country must meet and renegotiate the basis of the union in a fraternal way. “Today, we are living in a country that is full of danger. We are living in a country where there is no peace; today we living in a country where majority live in fear. “Today, we are riding in a ship that may tip over and sink any day.

Today, we are living in a country where rulers refuse to listen to the loud cries of the ruled, today we are living in a country where the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer, a country where the corrupt and criminal elements are in control, we are living in a country that is ruled with a constitution that is not the peoples’ constitution,” he lamented.

He said as long as Nigeria is being ruled without the people’s constitution, it is “clear that Nigeria is today ruled as an elected illegality”. On the way forward, the elder statesman noted that, “the leaders of Nigeria, not just politicians alone, must meet in a friendly brotherly atmosphere, objectively look at our past and in a spirit of give and take, see where we have made mistakes in the past, and pronounce forgiveness where necessary”. While stressing that the North by their culture of marrying many wives may have higher number of population, he explained that in “but in a true federation, other factors than population are also considered in order to remain together and peaceful”.

He also named other key factors to consider include main resource of wealth of the country. “Almost all the States in the South are producing the wealth of the country in Oil and Gas for other parts of the country to manage and control the wealth and only move to settle a few chiefs and leaders and share largesse to a handful of militants in a fire brigade attack of a solution awaiting an explosion someday”. “For there to be permanent peace, the country must meet and renegotiate the basis for the union in fraternal way. Those in authority are reluctant or unwilling to meet and find solution.

“The Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Niger Delta and Middle Belt Organisations along with Southern Nigeria Peoples Union, have all met and been demanding a restructuring of the country. These elitist organisations cannot force or compel the powers that be to agree to restructuring when the present position designed and crafted by their military leaders and handed over to them suits their purpose. “The pious resolutions of Ohanaeze/Afenifere and others are like whispering an advice to a deaf ear. Only action, peaceful, non-violent, non-provocative action will force a come together of the leaders and politicians.”

(New Telegraph)

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