A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, says there is nothing strange in Nigeria breaking up peacefully.
However, he advised against a resort to war.
He stated this while decrying insecurity and other challenges confronting the nation.
Oyedokun, who is a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), lambasted the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly deceiving Nigerians with fake promises.
According to him, the ruling party has failed to deliver on any of its cardinal campaign promises – fighting corruption, combating insecurity and revitalising the economy.
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Oyedokun said that although APC set up the Nasir El-Rufai-led committee on restructuring of the country, the party has failed to take any concrete step on the report submitted by the committee.
On the solution to Nigeria’s challenges, he called on the Muhammadu Buhari administration to consider the reports of the National Conferences called by the Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan administrations.
“Where are the reports? Have any of these reports been implemented? No, and this is part of the reasons why we have all these agitations here and there.
“People are now agitating for self-actualisation, but some people are standing up against this, that Nigeria should not split. But from whichever angle you look at it, Nigeria has to be restructured.
“What are the reasons members of the National Assembly who are the accredited representatives of Nigerians have for dilly-dallying over the issue of restructuring? Restructuring is imperative if we are to find urgent solutions, not only to insecurity but also other challenges facing the country.
“Right from the beginning, I never liked the slogan of change used by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to gain political power, and now I think I have been proved right.
“Where is the change that APC has promised Nigerians? APC just used the change slogan to get political power. They used it to deceive Nigerians. Look at the economy, look at the level of poverty ravaging the country, and instead of the party owning up that it has failed to deliver on its promises, it has been excuses galore.
“But Nigerians are tired of excuses; they want results. Even on this issue of restructuring, the party set up a committee which recommended that.
“But since then, we’ve not seen anything happening. We expected positive changes from APC but it is now negative stories. Where are we going?
“We should not ignore those behind the calls for self-actualisation. We should bring them to a round table conference and dialogue with them. Coercion will breed hatred; it will breed counter-reactions.
“It is dialogue that will solve all these agitations all over the country. Agitations for Oduduwa Republic, IPOB issue, and a host of others. Even if we go to war, we will still come back to the table to discuss.
“So why not discuss at the table rather than go to war? If we want to separate, let us separate peacefully, and that happens all over the world. There is nothing strange in that,” Oyedokun said.