A lot came into what
we have today as Nigeria, hence, any call for secession of any part of
it, after several years of living together as a nation, is unfortunate
and is driven by lack of knowledge of history.
This was the
position of the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly and Member
representing Lokoja I Constituency, Rt. Hon. Umar Ahmed Imam.
Imam, a
historian who holds a Masters Degree in History and Strategic Studies
and an Alumnus of University of Lagos stated this at the recently
commemorated United Nations Public Service Day at Abuja.
The Kogi State
Speaker who was inducted into the United Nations Hall of Fame for his
outstanding contribution to nation building and also emerged, Best State
Legislator of the Year 2017 in Nigeria called on Nigerians to reflect
on the process of nationhood by looking at our national history.
He said
emphatically that those calling for secession are corrupt and a product
of our corrupt society. He went on to query that “If we understood the
psychology of what happened (in the past), part of which is the bane of
our development today, no one will be asking for secession”
He said the
balkanization of Africa into the settled and non-settled colonies which
made those of them in Southern African went through wars and toiled for
their freedom while those of us in West African had the luxury of
negotiating for our independence in conference rooms while having tea
has contributed to our stunted growth.
He went to say those of them in Southern African have advanced rapidly because of what it took them to emerge as nations.
According to
him, “If we refuse to teach history to our children, indeed, we have a
long way to go but if we teach them history and make it compulsory as
subject at all levels of our education then we can instill that
citizenship and nationalism in them. These are fundamentals that we
cannot shy away from”.
To him, the
deficit the public service is suffering today is traceable to lack of
patriotism and related factors adding that “we celebrate the developed
nations but not prepared to do what they did. In the developed nations
they make teaching of history compulsory so that when they know the
history of their nations, they will not call for secession instead will
imbibe nationalism and love for country first” without recourse to call
for secession but rather impress on the government to provide quality
governance.
While addressing
some of the lacuna in the Nigerian Constitution particularly in the
1979 and the 1999 Constitution with regards to the legislative function
in our present day political dispensation across board, he regretted the
fact that the State Legislature, as the first arm of Government among
the three arms of Government, is largely responsible for the unfortunate
situation it is in now when it denied itself financial autonomy and
independence by refusing to give it concurrence to the National Assembly
then
.
Rt. Hon. Imam
therefore, agreed with those calling for it amendment particularly has
it has to do with the independence of the Legislature saying “If you
have a Constitution that drives a nation with such defaults there is
need for us to agree, sit together and see how we can actually amend
such defaults”.
He said further
that “Until we can be independent at all levels, from councilors up to
the National Assembly and financially autonomous, sincerely, our
democracy will remain a joke because the fulcrum of democracy lies in
the Legislature”
.
He said the
Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria is determine to
get the much desired autonomy for State Assemblies in Nigeria as well as
secure Local Government autonomy and remove State Independent Electoral
Commission (SIEC) from the State.
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