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Firebrand Ijaw activist of Kalabari extraction, Rev. Dr Sokari Soberekon, has declared that the restructuring of Nigeria would end all agitations in the country and bring peace rather than war.
Speaking during his 77th birthday celebration on Sunday in his church, Christ Jesus Link, Port Harcourt, Dr Soberekon said that Nigerians were tired of being forced to live together without their consent since 1914 when the British colonial government, under Lord Lugard, amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates to form Nigeria.
According to Dr Soberekon, restructuring Nigeria into five regions of South-South, South-East, South-West, Middle Belt and North, with Abuja as the federal capital, would bring an end to all the ongoing agitations and restiveness.
“Restructuring Nigeria would bring an end to Biafra agitation, Boko Haram, Niger Delta militancy, herdsmen problem, corruption war, nepotism, unemployment, kidnapping, idleness, unstable electricity, oppression, corruption, secession and opposition,” he said.
Dr Soberekon, who is addressed as Senior Advocate of the Niger Delta by his admirers who appreciate his activism, was also a roving parliamentarian who went round Rivers State to discover areas that needed government attention, advising former non-indigenous military governors.
He was said to have advised former Governor Anthony Ukpo, at the people’s parliament, to establish a higher institution in Bori which brought about Rivpoly and also advised former Governor Fidelis Oyakhilome to establish the State Sanitation Authority –now Rivers West Management Agency (RIWAMA). As chairman of Sanitation Task Force, Sokari also advised the same Governor Oyakhilome to stop the night soil men (Ndi Oburu) from operating in Rivers State.
Speaking further, the activist maintained that only the restructuring of Nigeria would bring development to the people, who would be in control of their God-given resources and only pay taxes to the centre.
The elder statesman therefore called on the Federal Government to save the money being spent on election and channel it to the regions for their development.
He suggested that Buhari can remain as a life president while the governors should be allowed to remain on their seats and oversee the smooth process of the restructuring.
Dr Soberekon, who made former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, to approve the oil derivation fund in 1981, after former governor of old Midwestern State, Prof. Ambrose Ali, had tried to do so through the courts but could not, as his suit was struck out up to the Supreme Court, said the controversies being witnessed in the major political parties now had confirmed his belief that the election could cause more conflict in the country.
He added that the twenty container-load of arms en route Nigeria that was intercepted in South Africa and the ones discovered by the Nigeria Customs Service were indications that dark days lie ahead.
He said that at 77, he would not want to see another civil war and would want his children and grand-children to live in peace even though there is no employment for them.
Recalling former Communist leader, Joseph Stalin’s statement that “those who vote decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything,” Dr Soberekon said the irregularities witnessed in Nigeria’s elections that make politicians run to the tribunals which finally decide the winners meant there could not be true democracy in Nigeria hence the need for restructure.
