THE agitations for self-determination in Nigeria have taken another alarming dimension with calls for the country to be split into five entities to be collectively known as the United Republics of Nigeria.
This came as the Convener of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark cautioned against the proposed declaration of Republic of Niger Delta on October 1, 2017, as a result of Federal Government’s alleged apathy to the peace process in the region.
The call for the division of the country was said to have become necessary in order to avert the possibility of violent agitations.
This position was taken by a coalition of militant groups under the auspices of the Reformed Egbesu Assembly, REF.
The General Officer Commanding, REF, Tony Alagbakereowei, who spoke on behalf of the group said: “We reaffirm our collective resolve to actualise the Republic of the Niger Delta, RONDEL, which had been proclaimed in 1966 taking into cognisance the reality that there is nothing yet binding us as a people rather than the crude oil and gas in the Niger Delta.
“We call on the British Prime Minister, President Donald Trump of the United States and the United Nations, UN, to conduct a referendum for the peaceful dissolution of the Nigerian states into Arewa Islamic Republic, Biafra Republic, Oduduwa Republic, Republic of the Niger Delta,RONDEL, and the Republic of the Middle Belt to be collectively known and addressed as the United Republics of Nigeria based on the principles of non-exodus and non-violence.
“We strongly restate our commitment and dedication to this model as it is the irreducible minimum acceptable political requirement for the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta to remain in the Nigerian state. We consider this as the best option to avoid the impending humanitarian crisis of a full-blown Nigeria civil war and armed revolution which will be foisted upon the African Continent and the world at large.”
The stance of REF which was not in isolation represented a microsome of the dissenting opinions from groups in the Niger Delta on the state of the nation, especially the Niger Delta crisis
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