Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has expressed disappointment over President Muhammadu Buhari’s inability to take a ‘bold step’ in restructuring Nigeria.
Speaking at the public presentation of a book ‘We Are All Biafrans,’ he said Nigeria cannot move forward until its citizens ‘go back to the faulty structure that we are currently.’
To achieve this, he charged President Buhari to rise up to the occasion, expressing disappointment at his current disposition.
“Again, I want to call for leadership responsibility from the president of Nigeria. He’s got to use the power, influence and authority of that office to mobilise our country to do the restructuring,” he said. “I regret to say that I feel disappointed that the president didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s a tragedy for our country and also a major tragedy for his own leadership.”
Dickson said the good structure Nigeria started on was altered when the military took over power in 1966.
He asked Nigerian leaders to dialogue to resolve any issue at stake while urging for efforts towards national interest.
“What did our founding fathers do that we are failing to do. They sat down, dialogued, disagreed, sometimes walking out of conferences, all those are political tools,” he said. “We shouldn’t be afraid of disagreeing. In fact, we need more disagreement. But the important thing is whether we agree or disagree should be in national interest.”
He lauded the author, Chido Onoumah, for his initiative while registering his conception of being Biafran.
“Why is this guy saying that we are all Biafrans? I want to make it clear from the beginning that we are all Biafrans in so far as we are concerned about issues of inequity and injustice,” he said.
“Here, the concept of Biafra is used as a constant reminder of the challenges and contradictions of our nation. Then, it is right to say we are all Biafrans because we are all concerned about those contradictions and challenges.
“But I disagree with the concept of Biafra connoting a particular geographical location that wants to be separate with the rest of Nigeria. I don’t agree with that Biafra,” he added.