One-time deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, said the South East geopolitical zone must hold negotiations with northern Nigeria in order to brighten its chance of producing an Igbo president come 2023.
He made the recommendation in Abuja on Wednesday during the presentation of a book titled ‘Pitch: Debunking Marketing’s Strongest Myths,’ authored by Ikem Okuhu, noting the urgency of devolving power to states in the face of sweeping insecurity and economic hardships.
“There is clamour for Igbo presidency today. And I believe it can only be realised if we engage ourselves in conversation with northern Nigeria to buy into our initiative,” Ekweremadu said.
He lambasted the Nigerian government’s attitude to the present economic crisis, escalating incidence of banditry and abduction, noting its disregard for several solutions recommended by patriots.
“Today, Nigeria is in the full grip of widespread insecurity- insurgency, banditry, abductions, armed robbery, and all manner of violent crimes. Nigerians have been offering solutions towards taming the rising wave of criminality. “These include calls for decentralised policing, which I am a proponent of and also have a Bill to that effect currently before the Senate. “Unfortunately, it appears the government is bent on doing the same thing over and over but ironically hoping to get a different result.”
Ekweremadu related the advancement level of the western world, which had proposed a paradigm shift by from use of fossil fuels as an energy source, to that of Nigeria, which was still far from exploring other ample sources of revenue aside crude oil because the country’s own brand of federalism was conceived for wealth sharing, not wealth creation.
“Even in the 7th National Assembly when we listened to the yearnings of Nigerians to amend the constitution to devolve aviation, power, railway, etc. from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List, it was never assented by the Presidency.
“Now that the chicken has come home to roost, let us hope that the Federal Government will listen to the voices of reason, devolve powers, and not continue with the micromanagement of the nation’s resources,” he said.
(Ripples Nigeria)
