News
Nigeria’s imbalance system affects Southeast more —Ekweremadu
A former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has said the apathy towards the South East has made the region displeased with the country.
Ekweremadu also the imbalance had resulted in agitations.
He, however, said the Igbos could actualize their potentials in a structured Nigeria.
Ekweremadu stated these at the 2nd Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Lecture at the Igbariam campus of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
According to him, the distribution of national wealth and revenue sharing formula did not help the Igbo to harness their potentials.
He said: “Ndigbo have many grouses, which have made them not to be satisfied in the system, among which are the distribution of national wealth and infrastructure.”
READ ALSO: Minimum wage: We’ll not rush to sign agreement with Kwara govt – NLC
“This state of affairs does not make South East to move forward. There are those, especially the younger generation that believes that the best way forward was separation from the Nigerian state and the actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra.
“This has resulted in agitations getting to a crescendo in recent years. But on the other hand, the school of thought to which I belong, believe that Igbo can actualize their potentials in a structured Nigeria.
“The Igbos, at various fora, have expressed their belief in a united Nigeria, but there is a need for true federalism, separation of powers, structural balance, rotational presidency, issue of local government creation and six-year one tenure for the president, among others.”
Ekweremadu was attacked in August by some members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany.
IPOB members physically assaulted the senator In the video and Ekweremadu was severally condemned over his alleged conspiracy with the federal government in its decision to proscribe the IPOB in the South East and killing of several of its followers.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...