Restructuring: Igala nation rejects regionalism

….Demands Okura state
The Igala people of Kogi state has rejected any proposal for restructuring which will return the country to regional government, describing the experiences of the first republic as an ugly one.

The Igala nation as they are called, however, called for the creation of Okura state from the current Kogi state, saying “regional governments in the first republic squeezed and emasculated the minority ethnic nationalities in the North, West and Eastern parts of the country”.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja on the clamor for the political restructuring and national unity in Nigeria, the National leader of Uk’omu Igala, and an umbrella body for all socio-cultural organizations in Kogi east, Maj.Gen. Patrick Akpa (rtd) said rather than return to Regional Government, the Igala nation supported the federal system as it is today, but that government should create Okura state in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.

“We reject any proposal for restructuring Nigeria which will take us back to the idea of regionalism as if we are so forgetful about the ugly experiences of the First Republic.

Regional governments in the First Republic squeezed and emasculated the minority ethnic nationalities in the North, West and East, and the bitterness associated with the report of the Willink Commission which rejected the quest of minorities for separate states did not die until the premature collapse of that government”, he said.

While expressing the support of the Igala nation for the unity of the country because “the blood of hundreds of Igala sons was sacrificed in the fratricidal war to keep Nigeria’s unity” during the 1967-1970 civil war, Gen. Akpa called for the creation of Okura State “in recognition of the persistent struggle since the Second Republic in 1981”.

He said: “Insisting on the creation of Kainji State out of Niger State (North-Central) and Kebbi State (North-West) will definitely alter the geopolitical configuration of Nigeria,” adding that the creation of Okura state is “the natural equitable expression of political balance in the state creation exercise”.

Igala nation therefore declared its support for the retention of federalism and “the recognition of the rights of ethnic groups within the states to express their right to self-determination. It also called for the devolution of power as the “over-concentration of power at the center is to the detriment of the federating units”.

Akpa, however, advised government to review the percentage of revenue allocation to states producing oil, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of arrears affected by insurgency and other conflicts and the diversification of the Nigerian economy by “fast-tracking the development of solid minerals sector”.

Tom Okpe, Abuja