IYC to Buhari: Nigeria’s unity negotiable

The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has described the statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable as an old fashioned approach to the resolution of national problems.
The IYC said that it is in the interest of all Nigerians to renegotiate the future unity of the country, adding that Nigerians want a renegotiated country that reflects a true federal state and allow people to grow at their own pace.
In a statement by its spokesman, Eric Omare, on Thursday, the IYC said Buhari was towing an old fashioned way of resolving national problems.
According to it, President Buhari in making the said statement quoted former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon’s comment in 1967 on the unity of Nigeria.
According to the IYC, the circumstances of the present day Nigeria demands a renegotiation of the future unity and existence of Nigeria.
The statement said: “This demand is not peculiar to the Niger Delta region but cut across all parts of the country. For Nigeria to make progress President Buhari should dump his old fashioned approach to the unity of Nigeria and face the reality of the present day situation.
“Nigeria as presently constituted is suffocating and the federating ethnic nationalities can no longer bear the suffocating effect of the defective structure which hampers the development of the country.
“Nigerians want a country that is united on mutually agreed terms and not the present defective structure.
“The IYC calls on President Buhari to wake up and face the reality of the situation and stop relying on outdated notion of Nigeria’s unity. Nigerians demand for renegotiation.”