Some Igbo leaders have said that
the Igbo nation are not interested in producing the president of Nigeria
without restructuring of the country.
This view shared by some Igbo
leaders, who met with the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe-led Ohanaeze committee on
collation of Igbo views on restructuring in Lagos.
The meeting which was held in
Ikoyi, had the likes of Deputy President General of Ohanaeze, Dr Sylvan
Ebigwei; Dr Kalu Idika Kalu; Chief Guy Ikokwu; Agunze Chibeze Ikokwu; Professor
Uzodinma Nwala; Chief Charles Odinukwe; representatives of South-East
governors; and members of Igbo Think-Tank group, Aka-Ikenga among others.
The first of such meeting was
held in Abuja; the Lagos gathering was the second in the series.
There will be another meeting in
Enugu on March 4 to be followed by the Ime-Obi (inner caucus meeting) of the
apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which will lead to an
enlarged Igbo summit.
Chief Guy Ikokwu told Vanguard
after the meeting that, ‘’We debated Igbo position on geo-political restructuring.
Igbo insist on restructuring of the polity immediately. We are not interested
in Igbo presidency now without restructuring. We are calling on the presidency
and the National Assembly to proceed with restructuring immediately.
‘’The Federal Government or the
centre should have less power than it has now. It should devolve power to the
federating units. We agree with the South-West and the Middle Belt that the
federating units should be the zones with the states under them. Each zone
should have its constitution. There should be fiscal federalism and resource
control.
‘’We are looking at six zones,
three in the South and three in the North. The majority of Ndigbo believe, like
the South-West, that the federating units should be the zones. With true restructuring,
equality of zones, fiscal federalism and resources control, there will be no
need for an additional state in the South-East. Each zone will be free to
create as many states at it deems fit without recourse to the centre.’’
On the herdsmen crisis, he said
the leaders want South-East governors to ‘’see livestock, breeding of animals
or ranching as an economic activity, as our forefathers did in the old Eastern
region. Chief Michael Okpara established ranches across the Eastern region and
we had the Obudu Cattle Ranch. Apart from meat, we produced dairy products.
Livestock is not only cattle. It includes pigs, goats, rabbits, sheep, etc.
Today, we don’t have Igbo livestock any longer. We expect our governors to have
something to show in this regard in 24 months.’’
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