From Steve Oko, Umuahia
Senator Mao Ohuabunwa who represented Abia North in the eight senate has warned that without immediate restructuring, Nigeria might not survive for too long.
Ohuabunwa who addressed newsmen in Umuahia, decried the worsening insecurity in the land due to what he called too much concentration of power at the centre, thus rendering states ineffective and unable to secure their borders.
He suggested a return to a regional arrangement which engineered healthy competition among the various regions before the military clamped the country into a unitary system in 1966.
His words: ” Nigeria is no longer working. Restructuring is the only option left for us to survive. The country is off the track and the roadmap by our founding fathers.
“It’s time to go back to regional government structure. Power dissolution is the answer. There’s too much power at the centre which must be removed to make states lively and competitive.
” The level of insecurity in the country is a pointer that restructuring is long over due. States no more compete for anything; they just wait for allocation every month.”
On where power should go in 2023, the former Speaker ECOWAS Parliament, strongly advocated that the South East should be allowed to produce the President in the spirit of equity and justice.
He however advised Ndigbo to present their best and start speaking with one voice if the Presidency would not elude them.
“This is the time for Ndigbo to begin to speak with one voice. We must assemble our best 11 and not allow charlatans masquerading today as Igbo leaders to speak for us.
” They were the ones who truncated late Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s chances in Jos PDP convention in 1999 but now want to present themselves as presidential materials. Who will ever trust them?
On the controversy trailing the emergence of Professor George Obiozor as the new President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ohuabunwa called on aggrieved parties to sheath their swords and rally behind the former diplomat in the interest of the tribe.
He argued that Ndigbo needed to convince other tribes that they could work in harmony to win their support for the much talked-about Nigeria President of Igbo extraction in 2023.
Ohuabunwa said that Obiozor a former Nigerian Ambassador to the US, and Israel possessed all that was required to lead Ndigbo.
” Ndigbo need somebody with experience, national appeal and acceptability to lead them, and Obiozor has all these and the clout to deliver.”
