Elder Statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Monday, said that he was shocked by President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that there is nothing to restructure in Nigeria just as he warned that without restructuring, there will be no united Nigeria and it will lead to secession and breakaway.
Recall that the President on Saturday at the inauguration of Kudirat Abiola’s Sabon Gari Peace Foundation in Zaria, Kaduna State had reiterated that Nigeria would remain a united and indivisible nation under his stewardship and that those agitating for secession and separation of the country, were either ignorant of history or of the war.
“People above the age of 60 will not contemplate going through what happened during the civil war. I urge those who feel aggrieved to channel their grievances to the National Assembly,” he said.
But Chief Edwin Clark reacting to Buhari’s statement said that without restructuring, there will be no united Nigeria, which has been the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Elders Forum.
“Without restructuring, there will be no united Nigeria, which has been the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Elders Forum’ he said.
Clark went on to say that Buhari or anybody can not intimidate Nigerians and that Buhari is not running a Nigerian government.
He warned that Nigeria will break if Buhari continues in this way saying: “Nigeria will break if he continues in this way. What happened in the civil war would not happen again; they used Northerners, Middle Belt and every other person to fight the Igbo. This time, nobody will allow himself to be used.
He said: “I was shocked and very embarrassed that Mr. President, who we thought after listening to him in the interview granted Arise Television, was mentally alert, saying few days after that there was no need for restructuring.
“Nobody can intimidate us, nobody can dictate to us. He is not running a Nigerian government, he is running a government of people who were not elected and those talking are not elected. Without restructuring, there will be no united Nigeria, it will lead to secession and breakaway.
“Mr. President should realize that there was Yugoslavia, but it has broken into five to six states; there was Soviet Union, where is it today? It has broken into several countries. Where is Sudan, small Sudan has broken into two.
“Who says that Buhari has powers to keep us together, to preside over us as slaves? We will never give him that chance. So restructuring is the way to go, without restructuring, there will no free and fair elections in the country.
“Without restructuring, there can never be a united Nigeria for everybody in Nigeria, so he should realize that.
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“Nigeria will break if he continues in this way. What happened in the civil war would not happen again; they used Northerners, Middle Belt and every other person to fight the Igbo. This time, nobody will allow himself to be used.
“I want to say that as an elected President of this country, he should see himself as President of Nigeria, not President of a particular religion. Mr. President’s statement is unpatriotic, he is the one who does not believe in Nigeria, not the advocates of restructuring.
“He is saying now that he does not believe in restructuring but he allowed Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to head the party’s committee on restructuring that went around the country, taking evidence from people and according to Chief John Oyegun, then APC national chairman, the El-Rufai report was received by them, APC.
“In fact, at a time the party was even blaming National Assembly for taking no action on the party’s report
“So for Mr. President through the person he sent to represent him to say that he does not believe in restructuring; that those talking about restructuring are not politicians; and that they are people who could not win elections in their homes, he failed to realize that some of us talking about restructuring were elected senators, not nominated senators.
“Some of us were elected governors, the 17 governors of the South who hold this position were elected by their own people as he was elected. They are not under him, they control the land and other things in their states.
“If Buhari thinks that he can use religion to conquer Nigeria, if that is what they are thinking of, it is too late, it is either the people choose to live together or break away peacefully. It is very unfortunate.
“Nigerians are not surprised that Buhari cannot keep one Nigeria together. He cannot force people together. Nobody will accept it.
“And we are going to stop talking about people who want to secede, does he own this country alone? He either keeps one Nigeria together by restructuring or Nigeria is destroyed upon our heads together,” Clark added.
