Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) has identified the chaotic nature of the Nigerian federation as the basis for the constant terrorism, banditry and violence that have made living unbearable for the people.
To address the trend, the Igbo socio-political group advocated the reconstitution/renegotiation of the federation by making a new constitution for the country, stressing that the current amendment of the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly would not address the challenges of the country.
It stated: “We are convinced that only a return to regional autonomy and fiscal federalism can resolve the problems bedevilling the Nigerian federation. There should be a return to the 1963 regional constitution, which was agreed upon by Nigeria’s founding fathers.”
National President of the organisation, Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, who addressed the press in Enugu, yesterday, emphasised the need for an equitable federal structure based on social justice, insisting on the need to try something new since what had been in practice failed.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to embark on serious electoral and judicial reforms as the only way to avert the growing political anarchy in the land and restore the citizens’ confidence in the country’s democratic process.
Awuzie, who frowned on the rate at which Nigerians travel overseas for health issues, described the trend as a “national tragedy and monumental disgrace”, and called for a functional health system.
“We need proper funding for health; we need health insurance that is working from primary, secondary to tertiary healthcare. It should be a health system that can give people the opportunity to care for themselves,” he said.
According to him, the time has come for Ndigbo to draft a master plan for the development of the South East with a solid rail system to link all the major industrial, commercial and administrative hubs in Igboland.
He urged governors of the region to come together to create a comprehensive development plan, saying it is a sure way of harnessing the abundant human and material resources for the attainment of food security and generating employment.
The group condemned the recent re-enactment of the bloody activities of herdsmen in parts of Enugu State, especially in Ikem and Uzouwani where lives were lost.
Insisting that the federal and state governments must collaborate and take urgent steps to stop the attacks on innocent farmers, he called for the prosecution of implicated herdsmen.
ADF restated its earlier call for the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention, describing the struggle embarked upon by the prince and his supporters as popular democratic agitations and constituting the fundamental rights enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
Kanu’s continued incarceration, it added, constitutes spite on social justice and infringement on his fundamental rights to self-expression, especially when viewed against the Federal Government’s attitude of allowing those who had taken up arms against the state to be released, rehabilitated, and even reintegrated into the nation’s security architecture.
Awuzie, whose leadership came on board some days ago, promised to build a virile organisation of Igbo intelligentsia that is ready and willing to liberate the Igbo from marginalisation, oppression and underdevelopment.
