Of quit order, self-determination and peace

MANY Nigerians must be alarmed and saddened
by the quit notice issued by some Arewa youths
to the Igbos resident in northern Nigeria;
particularly, given the impunity and
intransigence so apparent in their letter to the
Acting President.
If these young people did not experience the
effects of Nigeria’s three-year civil war, their
elders and sponsors must have. Many Nigerians
sacrificed their lives for the fragile relative peace
which some now take for granted. As the youths
themselves have rightly observed, Nigeria lost
some of her finest professionals across all
spectra of our society, apart from the military.
Therefore, all Nigerians, particularly traditional,
political and religious leaders have a duty to
speak up emphatically and call their young
people to order. The deafening silence from
those in the North who should speak up against
this type of behaviour is, to say the least, very
disturbing.
There are many others right across the entire
country who are agitating for self-determination
not just the Igbos. The peoples of the Niger
Delta are doing so. The Yorubas in the South
West are doing so and even minority groups in
the North are doing so. Will the Arewa youths
extend their quit notices to all these people too?
How can we forget so easily the daily
destruction of pipelines and other oil
installations that almost brought Nigeria to her
knees? How can we forget so soon the Acting
President’s visits to the Niger Delta states
including Cross River, which took place only
three weeks ago? Were these visits not in direct
response to and an effort to assuage the feelings
of frustration, deprivation and injustice, which
have generated the demand for restructuring to
allow for greater autonomy and self-
determination? So why single out the Igbos for
crucificion?
In any case, the Ikwerres of Rivers State are
Igbos as are the Ikas of Delta State. Both Rivers
and Delta States are in the South-South. So how
will the Arewas differentiate the Igbos from the
South East from those of the South South. This
is how irrational and idiotic the quit order looks.
The Arewa youths insist that “the only enduring
solution” to the agitation for Biafra should be
“through peaceful political process” and urge the
Acting President to “take steps to facilitate the
actualisation of the Biafran Nation” through a
referendum. Their demand for an enduring
solution for the Igbos also tallies exactly for the
Niger Delta people and the Yorubas, all of whom
clearly want self determination too. And the
peaceful political process canvassed for by them
lies within the recommendations of the 2014
National Conference. This is what all Nigerians
having been saying, which strangely, the Federal
Government finds unpalatable and continues to
resist.
But unless Government can muster the political
will and courage to address the issues
presented at that Conference, the agitation for
self-determination will only get more strident
and increase the risk of an implosion.
The actualisation of Biafra or any other state or
nation for that matter to be excised or created
out of Nigeria cannot be done by word of mouth.
Word of mouth agitations only create tensions
and incite avoidable violence. The Igbos are
obviously agitating for autonomy to manage
their affairs in the face of Federal neglect and
inequity. Still, they need to be circumspect and
perspicuous about the pursuit of their
objectives. Actualisation of any state, if any
group of people deem it necessary can only be
done constitutionally if it is to be peaceful as the
youths have suggested. The Government needs
to urgently commence the process of writing a
People’s Constitution which can be placed
before all Nigerians for review and approval at a
referendum. The Constitution must reflect the
aspirations of all segments of our society and
allow for greater autonomy and self-
determination for the constituent states.
We copied our Presidential Constitution from the
United States. All fifty states in the US have their
individual constitutions and democratic
structures and are allowed a fair amount of
autonomy in the management of their affairs and
resources. The Government in Washington does
not owe the oil in Texas or North Dakota; or
does it owe the gold in Nevada or Alaska. Even
the United Kingdom UK, that operates a
parliamentary system allowed Scotland to
constitutionally conduct a referendum as to
whether it wanted to remain part of the UK.
Though the first referendum failed, there is
already talk of a second one in the face of
Brexit. And it will happen again if there is
enough support for it, and peacefully too.
Talking about referendum and self-
determination, it is, perhaps, somewhat
heartening to see the Arewa youths make
extensive references to the United Nations
Charter. One would urge that they put the same
amount of energy in persuading the Federal
Government to take up the challenge of securing
a referendum for the people of Bakassi. It was
our Federal Government that without reference
or consultation with the people decided to give
away their ancestral land and homes to
Cameroon. More than ten years after ceding
Bakassi, the people remain refugees “in their
own country.” The National Assembly is yet to
ratify the Green Tree Agreement, which was
suppressed for more than two years after an
elaborate two-day public hearing conducted by
the Senate.
A special committee has been set up in the
Presidency with funding and support from
internal and external sources (the international
community) to help the Internally Displaced
Persons IDPs, in the North East who have
suffered so much as a result of Boko Haram
insurgency. This is as it should be because
Section 14(2)(b) of Nigeria’s Constitution as
amended asserts that; “The Security and
Welfare of the people shall be the primary
purpose of government.” But why has the
Federal Government not seen the need to make
similar provisions for the people of Bakassi who
have been displaced due to Government’s own
direct (and, one might add unconstitutional)
action? Rather the people of Cross River are
punished further by taking their oil wells from
them and the UN, which pushed Nigeria into
ceding Bakassi, is content to declare that the
people will soon become stateless.
If there are any people in Nigeria who demand
and deserve self-determination, it must be the
Bakassi people. They have a right to determine
for themselves whether they want to be part of
Nigeria, Cameroon or none of the two.
The Arewa Youths and their backers must listen
to the voice of reason and allow peace to reign.

Sen. Ewa- Henshaw, wrote from Abuja.