A coalition of civil society groups under the umbrella of the Minority Interest Rights Advocates in Nigeria (MIRAN) has described as a welcome development the reported position of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other well-meaning Nigerians, on the need to renegotiate the status of all nationalities in the union called Nigeria.
According to the group, the union should first and foremost provide a level-playing ground for all and create a sense of belonging to all component parts of the nation’s polity.
Leader of the coalition, Comrade Iyah Iyah, in a statement made available to News Express, noted: “With the current impasse created by Boko Haram, the Fulani herdsmen’s terrorism across the country, and the atrocities of Niger Delta Avengers in the south, Nigeria urgently requires a re-modification of its political and economic order in all the 36 states of the federation, to make it more impactful on the lives of our diverse citizenry.”
Comrade Iyah, who said he was reacting to the reported position of the ACF, suggested that restructuring will no doubt unlock forever the latent potentials of the nation’s ethnic minorities: “an immeasurable asset caged by decades of hegemonic rule in Nigeria.” He, however, cautioned that the assimilation of smaller ethnic groups within the previous regional construct, as being suggested in some quarters, will likely be resisted because there is no longer a monolithic region as obtained in the First Republic.
The MIRAN leader affirmed that every ethnic nationality in Nigeria – from the North to the South – must be given an opportunity to decide on the union.