The governor said the nation’s forefathers who liberated the country from British colonialists sought its unity at all cost and did not speak of secession for their ethnic groups.
Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje has said Nigerian unity should not be debated despite numerous challenges confronting the country.
The governor said the nation’s forefathers who liberated the country from British colonialists sought its unity at all cost and did not speak of secession for their ethnic groups.
He then urged different separatist groups, mainly Biafra and Yoruba Nation agitators, to suspend their secessionist activities in the interest of a united Nigeria.
The Kano state governor urged the aggrieved groups to call for restructuring instead of sponsoring and promoting separatist agenda.
Ganduje said this during the Second Quarterly Public Lecture Series of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Press Corps, held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja on Thursday.
“Let me repeat here that Nigeria is a united and indivisible country. Our constitution has taken care of that. I don’t see secession as the way out of the current challenges afflicting the nation. Instead, advocates of secession should have a change of heart and I recommend dialogue as a crucial option for addressing their problems.
“The Biafran agitators and a small section of the Yoruba nation agitating for Oduduwa Republic should therefore always have this at the back of their minds in their political calculations and transformations.
“It is on record that the great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria, was an Igbo man and also a perfect negotiator and foremost champion of Nigeria’s unity. The same for the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He never agitated for secession.
“He was loud and clear on the restructuring of the federation. And that demand is even louder and the debate is on and no one is troubling agitators for agitating for restructuring of the federation. What is more, the governing party, the APC has a working document already on this (restructuring). This is the way we should all go. There should be no secession distraction at this time,” Ganduje said.
He also stated that other ethnic minorities can only have their interests protected under one Nigeria.
“Secondly, they argue that in addition to the big three ethnic groups, we have over 300 others scattered across the country. So if the country breaks up into three, dominated respectively by each of the big three, as is advanced by the separatists, what will be the fate of these other minorities?
“So they posit that this ethnic and religious diversity can best be managed within a federal republic of a united Nigeria,” Ganduje added.