Abuja Bureau Chief Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, politician, industrialist and publisher of Champion Newspapers, is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Whatis your thought on Nigeria as a nation? Frankly speaking, I don’t believe that when Lord Luggard amalgamated the North and South he had the intention of establishing a nation based on unity, love and prosperity. I think Luggard only did that for the convenience of the British Trading Company that employed him. He was just a staff of the company and of course he made every effort to maximize profit and the bigger the profit he made, the more he pleased his masters. In the history of mankind, God at times takes a very simple action which he turns into a very serious situation. That action, which was very simply taken by Luggard has been able to transform into one of the strongest countries of the world. I think Nigeria, as it is today, is one of the strongest countries in the world. Nigeria is endowed enormously with potentials. Our diversity means that Nigeria has got everything that God can give to a people in this world. And if Nigerians have a government, if Nigerians decide to harness these resources, we will be able to build a country, which no nation in the world can overtake in any situation. What is your take on calls for national conference? President Goodluck Jonathan has been very kind and generous to Nigerians and by next year, we will be 100 years as a nation. In the life of a people, there comes a time, when the people pause for a while, to reflect on the past, examine the present situation and then decide the future. I think for Nigeria, the time is now. Over the years, the history is clear and we know how we fought for our independence and got it in 1960. Soon, after that, we went into an unfortunate civil war. And of course, that civil war was a major set-back to Nigeria but in spite of the civil war, we still remain strong. Very few countries will come out of a very serious civil war and still stand to day as a very strong nation, respected all over the world. Do you have faith in this nation? I have faith in this country; I believe that Nigerians should do everything humanly possible to preserve the entity. There is not part of Nigeria that has not got tremendous natural potentials. Dr Emmanuel Iwuanyawu Some of them are being tapped today; some of them will be tapped in future. There is no part of Nigeria that has not got human resources that are needed for the development of the people, but what I want in Nigeria is actually honesty of purpose. Now, I will start off from the political angle: in any country like Nigeria or republic, Nigeria is not obviously a nation, it comprises nation states. That Lord Luggard by force amalgamated Nigeria does not necessarily mean that Nigerians have essentially agreed to be together but we have learnt over the years to live together and we are ready to live together. I think one thing that makes the country survive more than anything is for the people to be fair to one another. Federal Character is very important. One issue that creates problem in this country is the office of the President of this country. Nigerians over the years, throughout our experimentation on how to govern ourselves, started with three regions, we came to four regions. We had 12 states and today we have 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Now, in our constitution, there is a clear policy of Federal Character. This is very important. This is being applied in many areas. Nigerians must make sure that the Presidency of this country reflects Federal character. Nigeria is not the first country to do that. Switzerland, America and many other countries do it. We have now six geo-political zones. Every geo-political zone can produce a president. I don’t see why Nigerians can’t be bold enough to put rotation of the presidency in the constitution among the six geo-political zones. That will reduce acrimony and rancour that characterise the polity. Nigerians must work it out. This is very important because every part of this country needs to have a sense of belonging. If we don’t have a Federal Character and it is left to the whims and caprices of some people that don’t have the efficiency or capability, then it means that the weak will continue to be weak and the poor will continue to be poor and that will not be good for this country. For example, everyday, you see people from the South East clamouring for Igbo Presidency and I feel that they are right because they know that their forebears like Zik played a frontline role in securing the Nigerian independence. South East also knows that their men and women are all over this country playing major roles in shaping the country’s destiny, socially, economically and otherwise.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:13:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015