Emeka Anyaoku, former
secretary-general of Commonwealth, has
asked President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the national assembly to stop
living in denial over the widespread killings in the country.
The elder statesman made the
comment hours after Buhari told his supporters at Aso Rock that save for
isolated cases, Nigeria is seen as peaceful.
The president said insecurity is
not peculiar to Nigeria, describing those who have been raising the alarm over
the issue as unpatriotic.
But speaking at a book launch in
honour of Dadi Onyeama, a former judge of the supreme court, on Tuesday, Anyaoku
said Nigeria is on the brink of a national disaster.
Describing the current state of
affairs in the country as “extremely worrisome”, he said as a way out, the
nation must have an inclusive central government where the component units have
a sense of unity and patriotism.
“Let me now come to my message to
President Muhammadu Buhari and all members of our national assembly. Nigeria is
on the brink; and our foremost national challenge is the management of our
country’s diversity,” Anyaoku said.
“I call on our president, the
members of the national assembly, the governors, and indeed, on all our
political elites not to continue to live in denial of the seriousness of these
glaring facts, if not effectively addressed, are bound to push the country over
the brink of a national disaster,.
“As I have stated on many
occasions, I believe that the current travails of Nigeria will be more
effectively tackled if the country’s diversity is managed with a structure of
governance that draws not only from the present lessons of successful diverse
federations but more importantly, from Nigeria’s own past happier experience
during its immediate post-independence years.”
He added that adequate delegation
of powers to the federating units will enable the government to handle internal
security and significant aspects of their socio-economic development.
“Every diverse federal country
throughout the world achieves political stability and socio-economic
development through successfully managing its national diversity,” he said.
“There are two common keys to
this. The first is having an inclusive central government which gives the
people of the component parts of the federation a sense of belonging that in
turn underpins the sense of unity and patriotism in all the citizens.
“The second is having adequate
delegation of powers to the federating units to enable them to handle their
internal security and significant aspects of their socio-economic development.
“However today, Nigeria is on the
brink. For no objective observer, including those in the government, can deny
that the current state of affairs in our country is extremely worrisome.
“We see an unprecedented
diminution of national unity; we see an unprecedented level of insecurity of
life and property with kidnappings and killings of human beings occurring
virtually every day in many parts of the country including the seemingly
unchecked violence by Fulani herdsmen which has spawned fractious controversies
over the proposed Ruga policy by the federal government.
“For the sake of peace and
integrity of the country, the Ruga policy must be handled with circumspection
and strictly in accordance with our extant constitution’s provisions on the
land tenure.”
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