BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

A group, Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, has called on the Federal Government to expunge quota system and federal character from the constitution, saying they hinder growth and national development.

Making the call in Lagos, the Secretary, Board of Trustees of the association, Mazi Okwu Okwu, said the move would mark the beginning of merit and service delivery in Nigeria, if implemented.

Okwu declared that a nation that denied her citizenry jobs, opportunities and rights to admission to schools, including tertiary institutions, due to ‘social injustice systems’ known as quota system and federal character, was practicing economic terrorism.

According to him, the practice directly or indirectly places heavy question marks on equality in the nation.

He said:  “Nigeria governance system and constitution are full of laws that are at variance with reasonable rule of law and sensible behaviours and they inhibit equality in her nationality and path to social justice. Nothing so much causes these hiccups than lack of equal rights and governmental protections in Nigeria.

“The fraudulently inculcated quota-system and federal character militating against merit are major attributes to failures of governance and lack of equality in Nigerian nationality and this was clearly exposed recently by the quota system used in determining the cut off mark for admission into the Federal Unity Schools.

“All these pointed to failures of governance in Nigeria as seen with quota-system and federal character are against the rights of every Nigeria to freedom from discrimination as contained in section 42 of 1999 Nigerian constitution.