Amid ravaging banditry and terrorism in the country, concerned statesmen, national leaders and political activists under the aegis of Project Nigeria Movement (PNM) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate the process of reordering Nigeria in order to avert an imminent civil strife.
The movement, led by Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN), Chief Emeka Anyaokwu and Gen. Alani Akinrinade, among others, has therefore constituted two committees “to engage the Presidency, National Assembly and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on how to create national understanding.”
The National Secretariat of the movement, yesterday, briefed our reporters about its new move on how “to avoid undue civil strife or civil war. We are taking these steps with the purpose of getting Nigeria reordered politically.”
At its emergency national intervention meeting on July, the movement had issued a communiqué on the current threatening insecurity and political tension foisted by ravaging terrorism and banditry on our country.
The communiqué, which was signed by Prof Pat Utomi, Mr Donald Duke, Dr Kunle Olajide, Prof Anthony Kila and Mr. Olawale Okunniyi, condemned the current heightened criminal and murderous activities of bandits and terrorists, which it said, had once again pushed the country to the brink of anarchy.
In addition, the communiqué unequivocally condemned all the dastardly and cruel murder of innocent Nigerians across the federation by invading and local bandits and terrorists operating within the country’s territorial jurisdiction.
But briefing our reporters exclusively yesterday, the movement claimed it had set up two committees alongside the Patriots, Pro National Conference Organisations PRONACO and other civil society groups with the mandate of creating urgent security and stability nationwide.
It added that it had constituted Contact and Mobilisation Committee headed by a renowned political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi and Strategy Committee headed by former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, each of which had embarked on national consultation to ensure stability
It explained that the contact committee “is to get more elder statesmen into the movement to rally round others in their geo-political zones or ethnic nationalities for security agenda the PNM, Patriots and PRONACO are pushing.”
The movement noted that the essence of the committees was “to create urgent security and stability nationwide. The two committees will engagement the Presidency, Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the National Assembly.
“The situation requires all the stakeholders to come together and work out how we can chase out armed bandits and terrorists; save lives and properties and how we can create security and stability across the federation.
“The committees have already consulted some eminent leaders of thought and elder statesmen. The committees are still on tour consulting nationwide. The purpose is to avoid undue civil strife or civil war. We are taking these steps with the purpose of getting Nigeria reordered politically.”
It disclosed that the movement had assembled some working documents to engage the Presidency, the National Assembly and Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) on the need to reorder Nigeria for national prosperity.
The movement also disclosed that Nwabueze already produced a blueprint, which the Patriot, PRONACO and other civil society groups had adopted.
It added that the blueprint “will be supported by PRONACO’s Peoples Constitution; report of the 1989 Constituent Assembly; 1995 Constitution that created six geo-political zones; resolutions of the 2014 Constitutional Conference and report of the Citizens Forum for Constitutional Reform (CFCR), which was facilitated by Dr. Kayode Fayemi
“All these documents are put together as working documents for engagement of diverse leaders of thought on how to stabilise Nigeria, ensure that Nigeria is well-reordered to function properly for economic prosperity.”
The movement however commiserated with all Nigerians that lost ‘their loved ones’ “to kidnappings and banditry inflicted by heartless ransom-taking, bloodthirsty invaders and marauders within Nigeria’s highways and Forest.”
“We strongly call on President Buhari, as the Chief Security Officer of the country to take visible and active measures to secure the country and to urgently put in place a serious security machinery to fish out these criminal invaders and murderers, whoever they are, and to make them pay for their ungodly acts in the interest of justice and peace.
It added that the federal government should set up a National Consultative and Reconciliatory Commission of Eminent Leaders and Jurists to engage the country towards unravelling the truth about the current murderous banditry and terrorism in the country and facilitate profound National understanding and reconciliation among the various nationalities and religious groups in the country to prevent a total breakdown of law and order and unwanted civil strife among Nigerians.
It noted that governments at all levels should immediately commence an in-depth and robust public conversation on state, local and community policing towards curbing and neutralising the present state of insecurity and killings by menacing and invading armed bandits and terrorists marauding in the Forests and Highways of Nigeria.
The communiqué stated that it was imperative for appropriate actions to be taken with great speed and urgency by all concerned “to avoid the complete erosion of the legitimacy of the Nigerian State and a journey down the road to Somalia
“We, as concerned Leaders, pray, at this trying period, for divine fortitude for all Nigerians, who have lost their relations and loved ones to ravaging terrorist criminality in our country and shall take decisive steps to engage the federal government and all other Nigerian Stakeholders on the way forward in the succeeding days,” the communiqué said.