JUST IN: “Nigeria Expired 10 Years Ago, Needs Renegotiation”. –Prof Ango Abdullahi

 

The chairman of the Forum, Ango Abdullahi, stated this, in an interview, on the sidelines of a “national dialogue on home grown parliamentary system” organised by a group of members of the House of Representatives  under the aegis of the Parliamentary System Support Group (PSSG).

Ango Abdullahi noted:  “Nigeria was born in 1914. It was a product of an Edict by the colonial officials that were largely military, in consultation with a few of our elders, about five or six of them. The Sultan of that period. The Shehu of Borno of that period. The Alaafin of Oyo of that period. Obong of Calabar of that period and other names that I have forgotten.

““They sat down and looked at development that was taking place in colonised areas of Lagos, Southern Nigeria and the North. So by 1914, the colonial masters in Britain wanted to solidify their gains so that they could more easily exploit the colony. That was how they sat down and agreed that they would amalgamate the territories of Lagos, South and North. And the wife of the governor general at that time, was the one that gave us our name, Nigeria.

““In the Edict, if you read it, it was clear that we were being encouraged from various backgrounds to come together and build a country called Nigeria. And our leaders at that time agreed that we will try. But we were advised in the details of the Edict that we should be monitoring progress over the years..but the life of the edict was 100 years. Which meant that the Edict expired 2014, which is 100 years from its formation..

“The question now is that we are now in 2024, this kind of dialogue reminds us that we have a history that started In 1914, and in the conclusion of that Edict, it says if we failed to be a country that we will call our own, and are proud of our country, by the expiration of that period, the various components that were in that amalgamation discussion could go their separate ways.”

Abdullahi said the dialogue was one of the ways to chart a path forward for the country. 

“This dialogue should really be as objective as passionate if possible to look at some of the things that we did wrongly. One of the things we did wrongly was to bring in a system that did not fit us. If we can, we should work on something. It must not necessarily be a typical parliamentary system from our former colonial masters, it could be something else.” - He Said