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Ijaw Leaders Insist On New
Constitution, National Restructuring
…Poised For Action Against Threats
The state of
insecurity currently ravaging the Nigerian state and threatening
its continuous unity has been a source of worry for most
concerned citizens of the country.
Troubled
therefore by the escalating campaign of violence initiated by a
group of Islamic fundamentalists often referred to as Boko Haram,
the Ijaw Leadership Forum (ILF) says it considers the demands of
the groups as representing real and present threat to the
freedom of conscience of people and individuals within Nigeria
and the corporate existence of the country.
“More than
anything, the demands of Boko Haram and the intensified violence
to back them express the historical fact that Nigeria is an
artificial construct within which different peoples and cultures
have been constrained and conscripted to co-exist”, the
organization stated in a release signed by Miabiye Kuromiema,
Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, Dr Chris Ekiyor, Chief Dan Ekpebide
and Timi Kaiser-Wilhelm Ogoriba
The ILF further
noted that while improvement in the quality of policing is
essential for security in Nigeria, real and lasting peace in the
country can only be a product of the just restructuring of the
foundations of the Nigeria state.
It stated that,
for too long after self-rule, the country was held hostage by a
backward ruling clique from the far north of Nigeria which fed
fat on the oil mineral resources from the Niger Delta, adding
that while the Niger Deltans remained preoccupied with how to
address the impacts of decades of environmental devastation and
social neglect, the political elite of northern Nigeria also
left their own people impoverished, giving rise to discontent
among the people and creating a country devastated on all fronts
by a criminal cabal for the present leadership under Dr Goodluck
Jonathan.
For a possible
solution, the ILF stated that a process for participating and
real restructuring of the Nigerian state, including the
production of a new constitution which it termed the “real
peoples' constitution” should be initiated without delay.
“It is our
resolve that such a constitution will grant all ethnic
nationalities the rights to resource control and
self-determination within the Nigerian state.”
The group
further noted that self determination will also guarantee right
of the ethnic nationalities to secede from the Nigerian state,
alleging that the Ijaws have been the main historical victims of
the British colonial adventure and amalgamation in 1914.
Further to these
demands, the ILF affirmed the desires of the ijaws to have a
space to develop all communal and individual potentials in an
atmosphere of peace and mutual respect in the Nigerian state.
“While we
respect the rights of all to desire what they may, let it be
known that we shall deploy any means necessary to defend our own
from any threats”, the group warned.
“We recognize
the legitimate responsibility of the federal government of
Nigeria and its security agencies to initiate immediate actions
to curb the violence and protect citizens. However, we call on
the state to act within law and to avoid the criminalization and
victimization of whole communities.
“As Ijaws who
have witnessed genocide perpetrated by the Nigerian state, we
are demanding that the Odi (in Bayelsa State) experience should
not repeated on any community in Nigeria.”
The statement
regretted that the activities of Boko Haram have left a trail of
death and destruction, with the recent bombing of the offices of
the United Nations in the federal capital territory, exposing
the resolve of the group to shed innocent blood in calling
global attention to the interest it claims to represent.
The ILF further
said it acknowledges insinuations that the group is sponsored by
political elements seeking to undermine the presidency headed by
a Nigerian of Ijaw extraction, Dr Jonathan, and add:
“While we
cannot, and do not discountenance this theory, we recognize that
the group that have claimed responsibility for the very recent
attacks have openly expressed a desire to institute a strict
brand of Islamic law in the states of north east and north west,
especially in Borno State”.###
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