…no Southern President in 2023, no need for Nigeria
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) met in Abuja yesterday, May 30th, 2021 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, in an expanded meeting of representatives of various Socio-Cultural organizations representing the various Southern and Middle Belt regions. Afenifere represented the South West, Ohaneze Ndigbo represented the South East, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) represented the South South and Middle Belt Forum (MBR) represented the Middle Belt.
The theme of the meeting was; State of the Nation and Preparations Towards 2023 General Elections. In the welcome remarks by the Chairman of the occasion, Chief E. K. Clark, he said first, members present should stand up for a minute’s silence in honour of the late Secretary and Coordinator of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, a detribalized Nigerian, a young man who speaks his mind at every time without fear for anybody, who organized the meetings and prepared the communiques for the SMBLF with great diligence and commitment, former Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Comrade Yinka Odumakin.
Chief E. K. Clark said we are first Nigerians before we are Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, Efik, Ijaw, Urhobo, etc. He said any Nigerian who has served this country deserves the honour and respect of all Nigerians. In this regard, Chief Clark called for all to stand up for another minute’s silence in honour of the Late COAS Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, the ten officers, soldiers who died with him in the ill-fated plane crash in Kaduna on Friday May, 21st and our other compatriots who are no longer with us.
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark said the purpose of the meeting was very clear. It was to address the question of where are we going to in Nigeria? He said some are asking for Restructuring, some are asking for brake up, some are asking for a confederation, some are practicing a Unitary form of government, some are saying No, we should practice Federalism. He said the SMBLF has been having meetings and consultations all over but observed that time is moving very fast. He said it was the believe of SMBLF to state again clearly to Nigerians their position.
He noted that while some are talking about ethnicity influence, he made reference to an interview he had earlier in the day where he said that, Mr. President is not an Emperor, a King or a Monarch but that Mr. President is a Politian and that he should come out to meet those of them who have been serving Nigeria when he was an ordinary soldier. He said Nigeria belongs to all of us and the north alone cannot rule this country neither can the south alone rule Nigeria. He said from 1947 when Nigeria had the Richardson constitution, which Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe called an obnoxious Constitution, the said constitution gave way to the Macpherson Constitution in 1953 which recognized the equality of our people, he said the Hausa man and Fulani man were not superior to the Tiv man, the Yoruba man, the Ibo man or any of the members of the minority ethnic groups in Nigeria, which he belongs.
Chief Clark said, the Northerners wanted to secede from Nigeria in 1953 when Chief Anthony Enahoro moved the motion for Independence. The Northerners said they were not ready, they staged a walk out and the Nigerians were not happy with them, they booed them and the booing continued till Offa. When they, the northerner got home to Kaduna and Kano, they said no more being together and they stopped coming to Lagos for any meeting, they wanted to be on their own. He said that was the time the British colonial government set in and called for a conference in London and the constitution which was drafted in 1959 was a result of the London Conference. He said the constitution between 1959 and 1960 referred to as the 1960 Constitution, recognized that Nigeria was a three-legged pot made up of the North, East and West, he said the minorities were sandwiched in between. Three years after this constitution, Nigerians said no, we are now independent, let’s look into this constitution again. So, they amended the 1960 constitution, they negotiated, met several times and produced the 1963 Constitution which recognized Nigeria as a four-legged pot because the Mid-West Region had been created. He said that was the constitution we had, where every region administered itself. Regions moved at their own pace and what you are unable to achieve, you wait until you get the resources for it. Not like now when one state that is less developed will hold down Lagos from moving forward. That is not the Nigeria we belonged to back in time.
He said it was after the 1966 coup when General Aguyi Ironsi took over for six months that he changed the 1963 constitution because he was a military man and believed in the military hierarchy. He turned Nigeria, with the assistance of Permanent Secretaries like Nwokedi, etc., into what we call a Unitary form of government under decree 34, that is one of the reasons the counter coup plotters gave for taking over from Ironsi. He said unfortunately, when general Gowon who was Ironsi’s Chief of Staff took over, he too did not touch decree 34 until the war broke out. He said we have been under military regimes with order from top to bottom. The system was Unitary not federal system of government. He said we have been like this for years and what has happened today is that, the constitution which was produced by the Obasanjo military regime did not go far enough, it was still military in nature which Shagari managed until December 1983 when we were overthrown by the present President, Muhammadu Buhari. E. K. Clark said he was a member of the Senate at the time. What happened next was that Buhari was overthrown by IBB and from IBB to Shonekan as Interim President after Chief MKO Abiola’s Presidential election victory was overturned by the Military Council.
Chief Clark said Abacha dissolved the democratic apparatus and took over from Shonekan. He said Abacha wanted to be civilian President but that did not happen. So, from Abdul Salami Abubakar to Obasanjo in 1999 which saw him come with a constitution that was supervised by Justice Niki Tobi but again the constitution was adulterated by the military, making the 1999 constitution we have today another Unitary form of constitution clothed in federal clothing. He said we are running a unitary form of government where the Nigerian President is the most powerful president in the world. He said SMBLF wants a restructuring of Nigeria now.
Chief Clark said most of them want us to go back to the 1963 constitution, if it has to be amended, let it be amended. He said what the National Assembly has been doing is fraudulent, every year, for five years now, five times, they spend One Billion Naira, (N1, 000, 000, 000) for constitutional review and nothing will come out of it. He said what is needed now is a brand-new Constitution based on the 1963 constitution and that they have no confidence in any form of amendment.
Chief E. K. Clark said the purpose of the gathering was for the SMBLF to say two things: First, Nigeria should be restructured now, he said Nigeria will die if Nigeria is not restructured and secondly, they want the zoning to continue because it is conventional since it is not in the constitution. He said when Yar Adua was ill and the constitution did not provide for succession, convention was adopted in the doctrine of necessity introduced by Justice Belgore and this was handed over to the Senate, House of Representatives and to Jonathan. Clark said, even though zoning has not been part of the Nigerian constitution and our party constitutions, it has been an acceptable convention that should keep this country together. He said that the next President of Nigeria come 2023 must come from the South. He said the next President of Nigeria should be zoned to the South. The south has produced the headship of Nigeria four times, in 1966 for six months, 1976 for about two and half years, 1999 for Eight years and 2011 for five years. He said the North on the other hand, has produced leadership ten times since Nigeria’s Independence.
At the end of his address Journalists were asked to leave the meeting hall to allow delegates deliberate and come up with a communique that will be issued at the end of the expanded meeting of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
The communique which was signed by Chief E. K. Clark as Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo – Leader of Afenifere, Amb. Prof George Obiazor – President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr. Pogu Bitrus – National President of the Middle Belt Forum and Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien – National Chairman of PANDEF reads as follows:
COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF AN EXPANDED MEETING
OF THE SOUTHERN AND MIDDLE BELT LEADERS’ FORUM HELD
ON SUNDAY, 30TH MAY, 2021
- An expanded Meeting of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), held on Sunday, 30th May 2021, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, ABUJA. The Meeting, chaired by Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, had, in attendance leaders of various socio-cultural organizations as follows: Afenifere, for the South West; Ohanaeze Ndigbo, for the South East; Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), for the South-South and the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), for the Middle Belt.
- The Meeting also had in attendance, former Governors, Ministers and Members of the National Assembly, from the respective Zones (list attached).
- The Meeting exhaustively discussed various issues about the State of Affairs in the country, particularly, bordering on the Security, National Dialogue, Restructuring, and the preparations for the 2023 General Elections.
- Arising therefrom, the Meeting resolved as follows:
- Urges the Federal Government to heed the genuine and reasonable nationwide calls for a transparent National Dialogue, and take urgent steps towards restructuring and birthing a new Constitution; to bring back equitable harmony to the Country;
- Insists that it is imperative to immediately restructure the country considering the precarious prevailing atmosphere before any further elections.
iii. Reminds all leading political parties, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties, that the basis of any viable democracy, especially in a diverse and complex country such as Nigeria, rests in fair and even sharing of power;
- Notes that the Northern part of the Country would have fully enjoyed the Office of the Presidency, for the full statutory period of 8 years by 2023, hence, should yield to the South;
- Therefore, the Meeting:
- Unequivocally and in full resolve, calls on the APC and PDP and other political parties to zone the Presidency, in 2023 to the South; at the next election.
- Enjoins political stakeholders from the South not to be lured into the unpatriotic step of seeking such other positions as National Chairmen and Vice President of the main political parties, but join forces to demand and ensure that the Presidency moves to the South in 2023;
iii. Calls on the Federal Government to declare a national emergency on security and urgently come up with proactive strategies to restore peace and security to all parts of the country;
- Emphasizes that, if the security situation is not dealt with and banditry stopped or reduced to the barest minimum, it would not be feasible to have proper elections in 2023;
- Condemns the cavalier attitude of the federal government towards the resolutions of the Governors of Southern States at their Meeting, held in Asaba, Delta State on 11th May 2021;as it pertains to ban on open grazing and restructuring.
- Insists that cattle rearing is a generally, private business enterprise, as such, the Federal Government should avoid committing state resources to promote any particular business, beyond providing the enabling environment, in the performance of its regulatory roles;
vii. Extends condolences to the families of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 other military personnel, who died in the unfortunate military plane crash on 21st May 2021, and calls on the military authorities to carry out a thorough investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the crash;
viii. Reaffirms its commitment to the unity of Nigeria, but must only be sustained on the principles of Equity, Fairness and Justice.
- The Meeting was held in an atmosphere of peace and collective commitment to the decisions.
- Done in ABUJA, this 30th Day of May 2021.
Signed:
Chief E. K. Clark, OFR, CON – Leader
Chief Ayo Adebanjo – Leader, Afenifere
Amb. Prof George Obiozor – President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
Dr. Pogu Bitrus – National President, Middle Belt Forum
Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, FNSE, National Chairman PANDEF
