"Why Nigeria may break up"

Renowned historian and a member of the Southern Leaders’ Forum, Banji Akintoye has maintained that Nigeria may eventually break up if it is not properly restructured.

 

He said the military government had succeeded in bastardizing the nation’s economy and even created a reign for corruption that was now leading Nigerian into disintegration.

Spacing with Vanguard, the southern leader insisted that restructuring remained the only way forward for Nigeria.

His words, “Now, when the military carried out a coup, a very unfortunate thing happened, they came to the conclusion that they could only rule Nigeria the way they knew. The military wanted to control Nigeria centrally and that is where the trouble started. It created trouble.

“The military has destroyed the economy of our nation, they destroyed our federation, and they have destroyed trust among our people and created anger and bitterness, enmity all over Nigeria.

“They have created a reign of corruption and they have now led us to the point which looks like our country is going to break up. So, the answer is that we should go back to the federation.

“I fear and I still fear as I speak today that if we continue like this without restructuring the federation and loosening the centre a little, Nigeria will break up.”