By Jennifer John
The Senator representing Abia South Senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe who is also the minority leader of the Senate, has traced the worsening security crisis in the country and threat of disintegration to the coming into power of President Muhammadu Buhari led government in 2015 which enthroned sectionalism and nepotism as state policy.
Abaribe made this assertion while delivering a keynote address during the opening ceremony of the 2021 law week of Nigeria Barr Association (NBA), Owerri branch, which had the theme, ” Federalism and Restructuring”.
He said the situation has made the country to be on a free fall, stressing that it was not like this before the coming on board of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The senator attributed the present insecurity and general restiveness among ethnic groups in the nation to the enthronement of sectionalism and nepotism as state policy by the present government since it came into power in 2015.
The lawmaker commended the Owerri Barr Association for electing to speak out now that the country is almost at a precipice, affirming that by opting not to keep silent in the face of intimidation and fear-mongering, they have written their name in gold.
According to him, not speaking up “means acquiescing to the plan to subjugate the zone to the hegemony of the jihadists”.
He pointed out that never in the history of Nigeria has so many people been willing to die in order not to be a Nigerian, decrying that the drumbeat of war and division are no more.
“We have descended into what Prof George Obiozor calls ethnocentric nationalism or sub-national consciousness. This can be very dangerous for unity in a country.”
He opined that the question of restructuring is exhaustively addressed by the 2014 CONFAB which has three parts namely,” 1, Administrative part which government can embark on immediately.
2 The part which the National Assembly can immediately make into laws and 3 The part that needs constitutional amendment such as we are doing now.” He submitted.
The lawmaker ended rhetorically ” The question remains,” Is it too much to stop provocative nepotism? Is it too much to stop putting all security apparatus in the hand of a particular section and religion of the country
