Nigeria’s unity is negotiable - IPOB, AGR replies Buhari

Irked by what President Muhammadu Buhari said, by disagreeing with Professor Wole Soyinka who asserted that Nigeria unity is negotiable, Buhari in his response said those talking about negotiating Nigeria Unity are dreamers. 

The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday released a statement which rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable, saying Nigeria could only remain united if all ethnic nationalities agreed to live together.

ARG, a pan-Yoruba socio-political and economic organisation, also condemned a public statement made recently by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in which it expressed strong support for the president’s position that the unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable.

A statement by its National Chairman, Hon. Olawale Oshun, pointed out the different reasons why the unity of Nigeria should be renegotiated.

The statement said the unity of Nigeria was only sustainable by the voluntary acquiescence of the component ethnic nationalities and rejected the president’s position that Nigeria’s unity was non-negotiable.

It reads; “Both the president and ACF need to take lessons on managing an all-inclusive, pan-Nigerian government. We wonder on what consensus or authority the so-termed non-negotiable unity of Nigeria stands. 

“Is it based on government’s ability to silence all dissenters or the capability to manage a diverse society in a manner that makes every component proud? 

“Nigeria was envisioned by its founding fathers as a federal republic, sadly its governance structure as dictated by its constitution is akin to that of a unitary state,” the pan-Yoruba group said.

“These agitations can only be managed successfully and sustainably when all Nigerians appreciate that they need one another to bequeath a strong country on the coming generations,” the group added.

Also, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), In its statement condemned the idea that every component part of the “contraption called Nigeria must remain in the artificial marriage, which has not been working since 1914”.

The group in a statement signed by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, stated that “It is unfortunate that somebody in that cadre cannot ascertain and does not know that the situation in the country now calls for unity renegotiation,”

“Rather, the government in power and the new generation of Nigerians should come together and discuss the basis for one Nigeria instead of forcing people to remain as one.

“Forcing people to maintain the citizenship of the country outside their indigenous identities is fraudulent and it will not work because the people of 1914 and 2016 are different and are not the same,” it stated.

IPOB said: “It is degrading and embarrassing that the APC-led government has continued to play the ostrich when things are already falling apart” and wondered if it lacked good advisers who have an idea of the precarious situation the country was heading.

The group reiterated its position that there was no going back “in the quest for the restoration of the nation of Biafra”, adding that “no human being can bring us back because it is the project of God Almighty”.

“More so, we the indigenous people of Biafra want to inform the general public that without the government of Buhari addressing this issue of Biafra and releasing our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, unconditionally the country will not have peace,” IPOB said.