Proponents for a divided Nigeria will have to wait for some time, if the blueprints for a unified Nigeria in a new book are to be believed.
The new book, ‘The Future of Nigeria’, is dedicated to how Nigeria can avert the looming threat of implosion arising from growing discontent over current political system, has hit the shelves of bookshops across the nation.
The book, written by Michael Owhoko, serves as a blueprint for the government and people of Nigeria on the way forward, highlights various political options to steer the country away from the edge of the precipice where she has been for some time.
According to the book, the current unitary system with centralized powers is incompatible with a heterogeneous society like Nigeria, fueling demand for federalism believed to be best suitable for the country’s diverse cultural and socio-economic aspirations of the multi-ethnic confederacies.
‘The Future of Nigeria’ which was released over the weekend and now available on Amazon and major bookstores worldwide, also highlights how minerals and other natural resources across Nigeria can support federalism; why leaders continue to seek ethnic gains at the expense of national interest and why militancy and separatist groups have emerged as a sign of discontent in the polity.
“The bane of the country is the loss of regional autonomy to a unitary system where the winner at the centre controls the resources and deploys same subjectively, leaving the federating units stunted and dependent. This has resulted in distrust, frustration, fear and discontent as it stifles initiative and capacity of component units to develop at their paces…,” the author wrote in a portion of the book.
Owhoko, a renowned journalist and author, said the work is aimed at stemming the growing agitation for separate independent sovereign states through self-determination and militancy.
“The book, which is an updated version, is a must-read not only for the ruling and political class but important for all stakeholders in the federating units on ways of saving the country from balkanisation engendered by sustained agitation for a system of government that guarantees equity and justice,” Owhoko told Quick News Africa.
