By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA — The twenty-four governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, blamed themselves and the Federal Government for the current wave of separatist agitations in the country, which they said was triggered by weak governance provided by the different tiers of government.

Members of National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, during May Day match past.

Also the organized labour has  called on Nigerian to to stand up with one voice and fight those promoting division on the basis of primordial affinity. saying that they  do it not for the good of the community but for their vested interests.

The governors, under the aegis of Progressive Governors’ Forum, PGF, also blamed the dwindling fortunes of the economy as well as poor law enforcement mechanisms for the agitations.

The APC governors’  position came on a day leadership of organised labour alleged in Abuja that some influential Nigerians are funding the on-going hate campaigns and agitations by some ethnic groups, with a view to threatening the unity of Nigeria.

According to labour, workers will bear the brunt of any conflagration caused by the hate speech currently ongoing, as they will be the worst hit.

This is even as the Catholic Bishop of Abuja Arch diocese, John Onaiyekan, blamed increased agitation for Nigeria’s breakup on the failure of the current government to abide by the principle of federal character in the appointment of public officers.

The APC governors in a statement issued in Abuja, and signed by the Director-General of the PGF, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, also called on separatist groups in the country to refrain from making further inciting comments.

The statement read:  “In line with the social democratic principles of All Progressives Congress, APC, the PGF promotes all-inclusive government for the development of policies and programmes that improve the life of every Nigerian citizen, regardless of ethnicity and religious orientation.

‘’It is with this in mind that the Forum condemns in the strongest terms, the present secessionist and separatist agitations promoting ethno-regional identity in the country. These sundry factional groups, claiming to represent different ethnic nationalities, sow seeds of disunity and promote secessionist agenda in the nation. We decry and reject their activities in all intents and purposes.

“Acknowledging the rich, diverse heritage of Nigeria as a country, the PGF particularly notes that the resurgence of desperate youth groups promoting ethno-regional identities and extremist positions from the different geo-political zones across the nation as currently experienced, is a reflection of prevalent weak governance, economy and law enforcement system in Nigeria.

“We must create by all means necessary, a country that we can collectively call our home, irrespective of tongue and locality. This is a vision the APC as a party that is committed to lead and for which the PGF is unapologetically and intrinsically loyal. These threats to national unity must cease totally and put away into history.

“While acknowledging that as a nation, we do have challenges, PGF believes that the resolution of those challenges rests with the development of our democracy and with it, the ascendancy of structured processes of national consultations, negotiations and invariably, agreements.

‘’As governors elected under APC, we will work with our party leaders, the Federal Government and all Nigerians who are committed to democratic development of all parts of the country to ensure unencumbered protection of lives of all citizens in every part of the territorial boundary of our nation.

“PGF, therefore, calls for the rise of all decent voices across this country to speak up against the upsurge of some desperate movements across all ethnic groups and support the emergence of a stronger and virile, unified Nigeria for us all.

‘’The Forum insists that, regardless of our diverse identities and whatever differences, Nigeria has to thrive. Hence, there has to be a nation first.’’

Influential Nigerians behind agitations — Labour

Meanwhile, organized labour, yesterday in Abuja, alleged that some influential Nigerians were funding the ongoing hate campaigns and agitations by some ethnic groups to threaten the unity of the country.

It also expressed fears that workers might be the worst hit in the event of any crisis arising from the hate campaigns, if the issue was not quickly nipped in the bud by the government.

Addressing journalists on the position of organized labour on the agitations by the Nnamdi Kalu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, for a Biafra Republic and the quit notice given to the Igbo living in the 19 states of the north to vacate the region before October 1, President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated that those beating the drums of war were being sponsored by some Nigerians.

Wabba said the raging agitation was irresponsible as Nigerians would gain more from staying as one entity than going their separate ways.

He said:  “We are addressing this press conference to state in clear and unequivocal terms, our position on the unity and sovereignty of Nigeria as a response to the drum beats of war which had escalated to a deafening dimension while we were away in Geneva, Switzerland, for this year’s International Labour Conference.

“Due to the urgency and primacy of the issue, we have found it necessary to consult our organs, upon our return, to articulate the position of Nigerian workers, particularly drawing the attention of Nigerians to the immediate and present danger of the on-going war-mongering.

“You have been witnesses to the degeneration of the national conversation into threats and counter-threats; of pulling down the federation by disparate and desperate forces, all of which were conveyed in vile and base language.

“Obviously, these persistent hot exchanges and attacks tend to threaten the very foundation and integrity of our sovereignty and unity; and, therefore, do not represent the true feelings of patriotic Nigerians for one another.

‘’Rather, they symbolise the intensity of greed, the implacable arrogance and desperation of the elites, some of whom have been funding or sponsoring the hate campaigns that can only lead to the disintegration of our dear nation.

“We speak out today as a pan-Nigeria organisation that believes in the sovereignty and indissolubility of one Nigeria.  We speak out because we are not persuaded by the base arguments that a fragmented Nigeria best suits any of our members!

“We speak out because a physical conflict will hurt us all; particularly workers, pensioners and their families who will be the most direct and immediate casualties.  We speak out because dialogue remains the most tested and result-oriented form of conflict resolution mechanism and should be given full rein.

“Thus, those fanning the embers of disunity need to be discouraged and schooled on the realities of war. In the same vein, we appeal to all parts of Nigeria, and, indeed, all Nigerians not to fall cheaply for the glamorisation of conflict or war, as a solution to our self-inflicted crisis.

“We urge all Nigerians, progressives or conservatives, men and women and of whatever faith and ethnicity, to stand up with one voice and fight those promoting division on the basis of primordial affinity. They do it not for the good of the community but for their vested interests.

“Let us, therefore, not allow them to use poor Nigerian workers, pensioners and peasants as cannon fodders for their selfish interests. The desperate but vocal few cannot and should not be allowed to speak for the majority of us!

“We, of course, recognise the fact that in the course of consummating our union, there are arguably genuine basis for dissatisfaction and disaffection. Nigeria is not alone in this kind of problem, there is no perfect political union anywhere under the sun.

‘’We know not of any nation that is perfectly happy with itself as conflict remains an indisputable reality of human existence.  Many of our men and women of conscience and goodwill have in the short period of the current altercation, pointed to some of the fundamental social and economic challenges of our society.

“We strongly believe that we should be paying attention to these problems by developing the capacity to address them instead of falling into the self-inflicted trap of stereotyping one another as enemies, and debasing our common humanity by casting and shrinking ourselves into primitive shades.

“Labour has, over the decades, stood for one Nigeria, right from our founding fathers who were in the front line of the struggle for independence, through our leaders who led the masses to fight against imposition of neo-liberal policies by military dictatorships which have culminated in the prevailing hardship that Nigerians from all corners, North, South, East and West, are facing.

“We are still committed to these values that our forebears were committed to and we call on all committed patriots, young and old, to join the struggle against the myriad of social and economic injustices that occasioned the deprivations which have set our people in dangerous agitations against one another in the social, print and electronic media.

“Our common enemy, and whom we must all resolve to face, remains the corrupt political class, who instead of utilising the God-endowed wealth of our nation, choose to loot it for themselves and their children, thereby depriving us of decent living and inflicting on us a scarred collective psychology that is predominantly negative, hostile and unproductive.

“On our part as Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and civil society, we are determined to stop our elites and their lackeys from throwing us as a nation into another avoidable civil war.

“Comrades, by no stretch of imagination should anyone blame the escalating social and economic injustice, the poor living conditions of our people, the inability of the state to pay a living wage or even ensure the payment of salaries as at when due, the massive unemployment, our lack of productivity as a result of de-industrialisation, the galloping inflation in our land, the devaluation of our currency, among many other lows, on the structure of our federation.

‘’Instead, it is inherent in the character of our ruling elite who have moderated our political economy for about two decades.  We should, therefore, look at positive options, peaceful, rigorous and altruistic of reforming the system, of choosing or electing our political leadership in a way that when elected, they will remain answerable to us, to the public good.

“However, in attempting to resolve issues of conflicts of interest for the purpose of having a better union, we are irrevocably committed to dialogue, responsible and responsive dialogue that takes on board socio-economic justice, democratic culture, cohesion, political competitiveness, mutual respect and all other values that strengthen a nation.

“We believe that as huge and diverse as our country may be, just a desktop research will show that we are not so “peculiar or “diverse” that we are not able to manage just like established federal states like India, USA, the United Kingdom and most countries in continental Europe, particularly Germany, Austria and others, which became federations as a result of wars.

‘’There is basically no country on the surface of the earth that was literally created by God and installed as a model federal state.”

On his allegation that there were people sponsoring the agitators, Wabba said: “Basically, all of us Nigerians must be able to discern when things are going in wrong direction and very obviously from what is happening, it is certainly an issue that those that are parading themselves as people speaking for and on behalf of us without our mandate, cannot continue to do this on their own.

“If you look at how the issues are playing out, it is very obvious we may not be able to have concrete or empirical data to point at that (those funding the agitation), but I think it is common knowledge that what is happening is not normal, there is actually an underlying factor and there are people that are blowing the pipe because he who actually pays the piper dictates the tune.

“By our own perception and understanding, there are people that are paying the piper and dictating the tune. I think all of us are Nigerians and we must be able to discern some of these things. Therefore, as organized labour, we thought also that those issues if properly investigated, those facts will be unraveled.”

It’s all about federal character — Onaiyekan

Also reacting to current developments in the country, the Catholic Bishop of Abuja Archdiocese, John  Cardinal Onaiyekan, blamed increased agitation for Nigeria’s breakup on the failure of the current government to abide by the principle of federal character in the appointment of public officers.

Onaiyekan, who spoke at an event to mark the centenary of Abuja’s first Catholic Archbishop, late Ignatius Cardinal Ekandem, on Wednesday, said:  “The issue is, what are those things that are happening in Nigeria now, which need to be critically and effectively looked at, such that this sense of dissatisfaction, exclusion, injustice that people are feeling will be reduced to the minimum?

“We all know what is causing people to be angry. If the federal character leads to injustice and marginalization, then, it does not make sense. We must change the way we are doing things, we cannot continue like this.

‘’Definitely, if we do, there will be more anger, more calls for change and we don’t know who will be able to mobilize more people to cause more problem.

“It is not only the Biafrans who are disgusted with this country; a lot of us are, even though we are still not thinking of leaving the country. It is like a father who is angry with his son; you will still not throw him away.”

Onaiyekan said the problems currently threatening the unity of the country could be addressed through restructuring.

“Some people put it under big title of restructuring. We need to restructure if we want the country to survive. The truth is that things are not organized properly and it makes the people to be dissatisfied,” he said.