Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu
Renowned constitutional lawyer and elder statesman, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Monday in Enugu asked the federal government to without further delay convene a Constituent Assembly to discus how to resolve the plethora of challenges facing the country.
He said the major problem facing the country remains the unresolved national question.
This came as the Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT) a body of eminent Igbo elders, condemned the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation.
In a separate press conference in Enugu, Nwabueze said the issue of restructuring the country which would lead to a new constitution in the mould of the 1963 Constitution that represents true federalism, should be urgently addressed to stave off further national crisis.
Nwabueze described as “hackneyed rhetoricâ€, President Muhammadu Buhari’s address on the occasion of the country’s 57th Independence anniversary.
“We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s number one enemy. Our administration is tackling these tasks in earnestâ€.
He noted that in his book, ‘The National Question and Corruption (2016),’ he wrote: “Not only is corruption not a threat to our continued corporate existence as a country, it is also not our foremost problem. I venture to say, as I said in an interview with The Guardian on the occasion of Nigeria’s 55th Independence anniversary, that our number one problem is the ‘National Question.’
“The National Question is concerned with how, while preserving something of their separate identities, the immense number of diverse ethnic groups comprised in the territorial area of the state created with the name Nigeria and forcibly imposed by British colonialism can be coalesced and united into one nation and how the state so created can order the relations among the constituent groups to facilitate such coalescing. That is the essence and the core meaning of the term, the National Question,†he said.
On their part, the Igbo Leaders of Thought in a nine-point communique issued at the end of their meeting and read by its Secretary, Prof. Elochukwu Amaucheazu, said the proscription of IPOB was against the extant and international laws and conventions.
They condemned the invasion of South-east and the attendant killing of the people under the guise of a military operation, ‘Operation Python Dance II,’ and called for the immediate withdrawal of the military from South-east and South-south zones of the county.
ILT also called for investigation of the petitions written by Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, against the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“Finally, the ILT would like to reiterate for emphasis, the support for the widespread clamour in the country for restructuring,†the communique noted.
