Restructuring: Group calls for unity of purpose among Igbo leaders

A non-partisan political organization, Take Back Nigeria Association (TBNA) has called on politicians from Igbo speaking states to forge a common ideology in the call for restructuring of the country.

The communiqué was signed by the Director General of the association, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo, Prof. Obasi Igwe, Mr Joseph Agbo, Mr Bony Amalu and Mrs Ngozi Chukwudi.

It stated that the basic problem with Nigeria was the ‘national question’, adding that at a time other nationalities were uniting their peoples, “the Igbo nation needed to do same.

“We join several others in affirming that the basic problem with Nigeria is the national question which can only be peacefully resolved in terms of nationalities.

“By nationality, we mean people with a common language and more or less common history, traditions and outlook.

“We appreciate that various nationalities in the country have been uniting their peoples into a coherent bloc, articulating collective interests and seeking a common voice on issues,” it stated.

The communiqué stated that the notion that sections of the Igbo nation hated one another was misleading.

“We totally denounce the Igbo groups or affiliates who persevere to disunite the Igbo, encourage the false notion that Igbo only means ‘South East’, or that Igbo sections hate each other and cannot unite.

“We call on Igbo communities across all political divisions to overcome the past, start acting in unison as Igbo and join others in seeking solutions based on the national question,” it stated.

The communiqué canvassed a return to true federalism based on the four pre-existing 1963 regions or ethnic nationalities with viability-oriented mergers of smaller ones or a rational combination of the two.

“There should also be a just and equitable reform of the military security services of which state police is only one component.

“Ideological clarity in terms of unequivocal secularity, democratic political order, free enterprise economic system and fundamental human rights must find expression in the constitutions of the units and the whole,” it stated.