….Iwuayanwu canvasses restructuring, zonig
By Stella Omona
The wife of foremost nationalist and Nigeria’s first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe , Professor Valeria has called on politicians to do everything possible to sustain the nation’s unity which her late husband and others nationalists fought for at Nigeria “s independence just as Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu stressed the importance of restructuring and zoning to sustaining the country.
Professor Azikiwe, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 3rd Igbo Nsukka Zik’s Annual Merit Award/ Lecture in commemoration of the late president’s birthday, saying that keeping Nigeria as one will gladden the heart of her late husband.
“”When I was told about the establishment of the front, I said Zik is for all of us and that whatever they want to do that is positive, please go ahead, the family is in full support.
“The few years I lived with Zik, I know how he treasured one Nigeria, anything that will make Nigeria disintegrate, God forbid and that is whyG I stand here on behalf of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe to pray that whatever happens, Nigeria will never disintegrate in the name of Jesus. Let us come together. This will make him and his other contemporary whenever they are, to be happy-“
Açcording to Chief Iwayanwu, without Zik, there would have been no Nigeria,
“If Zik in 1956 Azikiwe had
not said let go with the North, there would have been no Nigeria . Nigeria is a nation, we need zoning among the geo-political zones,” he stressed.
The keynote speaker, Bar Mainasara Kogo Umar blasted politicians and current leaders for being so self centered and materialistic, which he described as unfortunate situation where some leaders are richer than their states.
He noted that during the era of late Azikiwe, what the country had then was servant-leaders, where the leaders were the first to suffer anything and last to also enjoy anything.
He attributed Nigeria’s current disunity to the discovery of oil in the sixties which according to him bred all kinds of rivalry amongst the north, south, east and west, adding that the unnecessary rivalry resulted to a 30 months civil war were over 3 million people lost their lives.
While commending the late Azikiwe ‘s contributions to the end of the civil war, he advised the people to eschew violence and promote the spirit of brotherhood,.
In his welcome address, the Director General of Igbo Nsukka United Front (INUF), Comrade Chineme Onyeke, noted that the annual merit award/ lecture series was designed to promote national integration, peace and unity through dialogue and as a catalyst for the development and prosperity of one Nigeria state.
He said that the theme of the 2022 edition “Nigeria of Our Dreams: Possibilities, Challenges, and Reality”, is germane especially as the 2023 general elections are around the corner.
He noted that the event came up “at a time when Nigeria is bedeviled with a plethora of challenges threatening her corporate existence, ranging from insecurity to economic and political problems”.
“We believe that given the ethnic diversity of Nigeria, we can achieve enduring peace, unity and prosperity by enthroning a true-federalism in the true sense of the concept. True federalism will seamlessly ‘restructure’ this country,” he stated.
Onyeke, stressed his group”s stand on free, fair and credible elections to bring about patriotic, competent and forward -looking political leaders.
“Our requests – we appeal to the federal government to approve enough allocation of Land space here in Abuja to build a befitting Zik center for national unity..we appeal to the federal government to take over and reconstruct the home of Zik in Nisikka and make it a nationalist National Heritage Centre,”
