Former Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Obong Victor Attah, has called on Nigerians not to take agreement to stay together as one, for granted even though he believes in unity of Nigeria.
Attah stated this when asked about his opinion on cry of secession by some groups in parts of the country.
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He said: I personally, totally, completely reject the idea of secession. Some people want to say that the British colonialists forced us together by amalgamation. But after a series of protracted negotiations, we all agreed to remain together and accept our independence as one united nation in 1960. So even if at the beginning we were forcefully brought together, in the end we acquiesced.
IPOB is Igbo, Oduduwa is Yoruba, I do not believe that those are the only ethnic groups in Nigeria. They might be the most vocal and perhaps also the most visible but that by no means suggests that each ethnic group wants to be on its own. Look at how many ethnic groups there are! Even so, you cannot say that IPOB has the backing of the majority of Igbo People or is that true of the advocates of Oduduwa Republic.
Having said that, I must warn that the agreement to stay together must not be taken for granted. The idea of secession did not start today. It started in 1953 when the North, as a block decided it would secede rather than have independence forced on them when they were not ready. All these agitations for secession only point to the fact that nobody will agree to remain in a union in which they consider the terms and conditions as unfavourable.
As for breaking up, my conviction is that Nigeria will not break up. There is no sensible Nigerian today that can say that we are better off apart than together. We need to and must stick together but the terms and conditions of the union must be renegotiated and agreed to by everyone. Any attempt to impose, even by military force, can only end in a major disaster for everyone. The claim by the Senate that they cannot give Nigeria a new constitution is playing possum. They must not forget that first, there must be a country before there can be a Senate. There is a way it can be done and it must be done to keep the country together.
