Why Eastern Assembly demands restructuring

Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA) held a crucial meeting on Tuesday this week in Enugu, where it demanded for restructuring of Nigeria before the next general election. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports on why the organisation believes that only an immediate restructuring of the country can save the Nigerian state

CALL for early restructuring of Nigeria dominated this Tuesday’s General Assembly of the Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), held at the Universal Hotel, Enugu. The event, with the theme, ‘Addressing the Unresolved National Question,’ recorded what a participant described as “unprecedented attendance and raw passion.”

Amongst the distinguished members in attendance were elder statesman and legal luminary, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazuluike Amaechi, the widow of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the First Nigerian President, Prof (Mrs.) Uche Azikiwe, Prof. Elo Amucheazi, Prof. Obasi Igwe, Chief Mrs. Maria Okwor, Prince Emeka Onyesoh, Comrade Emma Zopma, Chief Nduka Eya, and many others.

Aside demanding for and explaining why Nigerians must embrace early restructuring of the country, ECA used the occasion to honour some selected patriots from the Eastern Region who made enduring positive impact, as a way of pointing the way for good leadership. Some of the awardees were honoured post-humously while others were physically present to witness their day of glory.

Those honoured post-humously included the First President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi  Azikiwe, the former Governor of old Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe, and Mrs. Magrate Ekpo, a pioneer Nigerian women’s rights activist and social mobilizer in the First Republic . Others honoured are Prof Ben Nwabueze, a foremost constitutional lawyer in Nigeria and Chief Mbazuluike Amaechi, a First Republic Minister.

Why we insist on restructuring

Both the awardees and other speakers at the event did not mince words as they called for urgent need to restructure the country if the people want Nigeria to survive. As if they held a previous meeting where a consensus was held before the General Assembly, all the speakers warned that to save the entity called Nigeria, there is no alternative to full and early restructuring. The speakers and other guests also explained the manner of restructuring they consider suitable for the country.

In his contribution, First Republic Minister, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, said there is the urgent need to have a restructured Nigeria based on a new constitution, because, according to him, “the 1999 Constitution is an illegal document and the source of all the problems in Nigeria.”  He explained therefore that the only way to salvage Nigeria now is to get a new constitution. According to him, those who are resisting restructuring of Nigeria under a new constitution are only making it difficult for Nigeria to survive.

He also said Nigeria, as it is today, “is an illegality,” lamenting that the country was being ruled by laws unknown to the majority of the people of the country.

According to him, this was not the case “when the country’s founding fathers, including the Governor-General, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who also became the first President of Nigeria, the Premier of the old Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, among other nationalists, had an agreement on what should constitute Nigeria.”

Comparing what obtained immediately after independence and what Nigeria has turned out to be today, Amaechi pointed out that “there was a need to go back to the structure that made Nigeria the pride of Africa and the Black race during the First Republic and in the early 1960s,” warning that “Anybody not supporting this move did not want the best for the country and wants us to remain retrogressive all the way.”

Elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, also spoke at the meeting with similar passion when he said Nigeria should be restructured before next election. As he puts it, the country needs to resolve the national question before the next election; if we are serious about having the country we call Nigeria.

The renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who has been on the vanguard of call for restructuring of Nigeria, specifically recommended the need to have what he described as “a new and workable constitution for the country.”

As he puts it, what we need is “a constitution that will take care of various needs and interests in the country while engendering peace and love devoid of various agitations going on in the country.

“The elders of the country want a country that will work for all and respect individual rights and liberties as seen in countries with advanced democracies,” he said.

Virtually every speaker at the well-attended meeting spoke of the need for an immediate restructuring of Nigeria, even as they warned that anything short of this would not be in the interest of Nigerian unity. For example, the National Secretary of ECA, Evang. Elliot Uko, said his group “believes in one indivisible and united Nigeria but restructured to give everyone, every interest and every group, a sense of belonging.”

Uko, who was also the convener of the assembly, explained that “ECA had remained committed to the total restructuring as advocated by Prof. Nwabueze and other prominent patriots of the country.”

As he puts it: “ECA stands for the unity and progress of Nigeria and wants a total restructuring for the country to make progress as it was during the First Republic and in the 60s in the country.”

This call for a restructured Nigeria has remained the main vision of ECA for some time now. It would be recalled that in 2017, the group also made pointed demand for restructuring of Nigeria. It coincided with the time when some youths in the region, desperate for a fundamental change in the polity, but disappointed by the leadership’s refusal to give a listening ear to their plea, demanded for a sovereign state of Biafra. Alarmed at the possible consequences of such a movement, the Federal Government had moved against pro-Biafran groups and against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in particular. But in the ensuing confusion, different groups and observers had interpreted the agitation of groups like IPOB as part of growing disillusionment in Nigeria and the need to restructure it so as to give all the citizens a sense of belonging. Some groups, including ECA, had argued then that the agitation of Kanu-led IPOB has helped to bring to the fore the need to restructure Nigeria.

For example, while commenting on a book, How Nnamdi Kanu Restructured Nigeria, the Deputy Leader of ECA, Mrs. Maria Okwor, who, incidentally is one of the leaders honoured by the group this year, had said then that “The book produced by the ECA, documents the travails, the journey and frustrations in the spirited attempt by good men and women to save Nigeria from collapse, through a holistic restructuring of the polity back to true federalism and regional autonomy.”

Okwor, who is also the Leader of Igbo Women Assembly, explained then that, “The book reveals how Nigeria is crippled by an over-powerful center, prebendalism, unitary structure, ethnic divisions, corruption and ill-fitting military constitution.”

She added that “The book also recalls the struggles by late Anthony Enahoro, late Abraham Adesanya, late Rotimi Williams, late Tunji Braithwaite, etc., to reconstruct and redesign Nigeria through a wholesome restructuring of the polity that will throw up a new people’s constitution that would be affirmed at a referendum.”

According to her, “The book exposes the reasons why enemies of progress have consistently killed reports of past National Conferences, just so they could continue to hold Nigerians hostage and deny the people opportunity to take back their country from the vicious cabal that believes they are born to rule and dominate others forever.”

The passion betrayed by almost all the speakers in this year’s General Assembly of the group shows that the group’s position on the need to urgently restructure the country has not waned a bit. The Convener of the Assembly, Evang. Elliot Uko, told The Nation this week that the group is demanding restructuring of Nigeria before the next general election “because it is the only thing that can stop the country from the impending implosion.”

He explained that “unlike the fears expressed by some misinformed elements and opponents of a progressive Nigeria, restructuring of the country into true federalism is the surest way to preserve the entity called Nigeria.”

According to him, “Nigerians must face reality by understanding that our quasi-unitary structure is clearly responsible for all our problems, including corruption.

“We must restructure Nigeria. It is the only way out. It will reduce ethnic and religious tension, check sleaze and encourage diversification of the economy,” he said.

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