The Igbo Leaders of
Thought, an association of prominent Igbo personalities led by foremost
constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, has said that corruption is not
Nigeria’s primary problem.
The Igbo leaders stressed
that while President Muhammadu Buhari engages in the fight against corruption,
he should equally address other critical problems, particularly what they
described as the ‘Nigerian question’ – the dysfunctional federal system
practised in the country.
Nwabueze made the
group’s feelings known after an extensive meeting in Enugu.
The Igbo Leaders of
Thought, comprising mostly elder statesmen, stressed that other vital issues
like poverty, illiteracy and security should not be neglected because of the
campaign against corruption.
Speaking to
journalists, Nwabueze, however, observed that the current preoccupation with
the anti-corruption campaign had unfortunately relegated other serious national
challenges to the background.
The Senior Advocate of
Nigeria said, “Everybody is thinking that all that we need is to fight
corruption; it is important, but it is not our primary problem.
“There are other issues
that are even more important than corruption.
“We have the question
of illiteracy, the question of poverty, the question of security.
“As important as the
war against corruption is, we are of the view that there are other issues that
overshadow corruption.
“Another issue is what
we call the national question.”
Shedding further light
on the ‘national question’, Nwabueze said Nigeria was not a nation.
He said the Federal
Government must take necessary steps to ensure that Nigeria becomes a nation,
rather than a mere state.
He said, “The national
question means the problem of evolving Nigeria into a nation.
“Nigeria is not a
nation; it is a state.
“We all want to belong
to that state but we deceive ourselves always by thinking and painting the
picture that we are already a nation; we are not.”
Nwabueze spoke of the
need to integrate the over 389 ethnic nationalities that make up the country.
According to him,
almost every Nigerian will be happy to see the country unite.
In the same vein, the
Igbo leaders urged Buhari to execute the anti-corruption war without neglecting
the rule of law.
“Fight corruption;
fight it relentlessly but that fight should be subject to constitutional
limitations, especially limitations arising from the federal system.
“The federal system is
a conspicuous device to limit power.
“If you do away with
the limitations on power arising from the federal system, we will be in
trouble; graver trouble than the trouble of corruption,” he said.
The group also demanded
the immediate relocation of the detained Boko Haram suspects transferred to
Ekwulobia prisons in Anambra State.
Some of the Igbo
leaders at the meeting were: Col. Ben Gbulie (retd.), Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike,
Senator Anyim Ude, Evengelist Eliot Uko and Prof. Lawrence Ocho.
- Punch
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