A meeting of the South-East,
South-West leaders and other regions has ended in Enugu with a 17-point
communique.
The communique was signed by
Chief Nnia Nwodo, President-General, Ohaneze Ndigbo and Chief Ayo Adebanjo, on
behalf of Afenifere.
It read in full:
Communique – Handshake Across The
Niger:
A] Notations.
After today’s meeting of all
strata of persons of Igbo and Yoruba origins in Enugu, the erstwhile capital of
Eastern Nigeria, the conferees comprising leaders of the South West (SW), South
East (SE), the South South (SS) the Middle Belt (MB) made several observations
and resolved as follows:
1. Noted the immense strength of
Igbo-Yoruba close affinities of kinship and brotherhood, shared origins and
cultural/ethical values, a common world view and inherent love of freedom and
justice;
2. Noted that the Hand Shake
Across the Niger (HSAN), anchored on the heroism of Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi
Ironsi and Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, though long overdue, has finally burst the
myth of Igbo-Yoruba irreconcilable differences and spiteful rivalry, thus,
providing new impetus for resurgence of the same bold, patriotic and
nationalist solidarity of the two ethnic groups from the 1930s to the 1950s
that earned independence for Nigeria in 1960;
3. Noted that in a long history
of close relations and association, the Igbo and Yoruba have no recorded
instances of violence against each other’s ethnic group, such as inter-ethnic
mass killings and destruction and/or seizure of property; that instead, they
have lived, worked and prospered together, accommodating and respecting their
differences;
4. Expressed awareness that
grievances generated by past errors on both sides can no longer justify or
sustain dissention between the two groups whose solidarity and mutual
collaboration have the capacity to dramatically change the fortunes of Nigeria,
thereby also, changing the fates of the African continent and the black race;
5. Noted that the HS has brought
about a new dawn of irreversible amity in the horizon of Igbo-Yoruba relations,
that they have today declared time-up for, and permanently buried, the hatchet
of distrust and spiteful rivalry, leading to a credible tipping-point of
optimism and opportunity in realizing the destiny of Nigeria as a start-up
nation-state that can achieve great things.
B] Decisions and Commitments.
In consequence of the fore-going,
the conferees of the HS arrived at the following decisions and commitments:
1. Decided to collaborate closely
to create mutually beneficial opportunities, build a strong alliance to advance
their ever growing mutual interests, while striving together to meet the common
responsibilities of building a united, coherent and prosperous nation – state
of free peoples, freely relating to one another across the dividing lines of
tribe, religion, region and politics;
2. Declared unflinching support
for a truly federal union of Nigeria that is democratic, stable, secure,
peaceful, just and fair to all its citizens.
3. Committed to work in close
partnership and through peaceful means to restructure Nigeria, reducing and
restricting the duties of the federal government to only matters of national
import on the exclusive list, while granting the federating units the right to
take full responsibility for local, developmental and residual matters, as this
will lead to healthy competition and cooperation among the federating units, in
place of the present dysfunctional arrangement that merely superintends over
the sharing and consuming of rents, and holds some States and Zones down for
others to play the elusive game of catch-up;
4. Committed to insistence
therefore, on peaceful devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, land/resource
ownership/control, reforming component structural and systemic institutions to
radically reduce the escalating cost of governance;
5. Committed to working
tirelessly towards joining the economically-performing nations – China, India,
Brazil, Israel, Singapore , South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand etc. – not as a
dependent State, but a competitive producer and exporter of knowledge-based
goods and services;
6. Committed to immediate
implementation of pro federalism recommendations of the 2014 National
Conference, in particular those affecting the efficiency of governance.
C] The way forward.
We believe that the fore-going
measures will reposition Nigeria to reach credible nationhood, attain its full
potential and respect in the community of nations thereby enabling us to
effectively lead the campaign for the political and economic renaissance of
Africa and the black race – the very goals for which the Zik of Africa and the
sage Chief Awolowo and a host of other founding nationalists lived and
sacrificed so much. The conferees of the HS have therefore:
i] Decided that today’s Hand
Shake (HS) is not a one off event, but only the first of a progressive and
continuous re-socialization project that will, in short order, reach out to
embrace other compatriots in the South South (SS) , Middle Belt [MB], North
Central (NC) North East (NE) and North West (NW) zones of the country;
ii] Decided therefore, to
establish a standing Joint Action Committee to drive this process, and to
continually articulate fresh ideas and strategies to sustain the current zeal
and momentum of mutual understanding and collaborative actions aimed at
resuscitating Nigeria politically and economically in order to position her to
earn her rightful place among the contending nations in the world.
The composition and mandate of
the Joint Committee and its sub-committees, along with the full report of
today’s Hand Shake, will be posted in due course.
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