Aminu Kano Memorial Lecture: Fayemi Says Secession Not Solution To Nigeria’s Challenges

The Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi Kayode on Saturday, December 4, said that secession would not end the country’s problems.

Delivering a keynote address before a gathering of eminent scholars and prominent Northern politicians, at the 21st Anniversary celebration of Mambayya House, Fayemi warned that secession will only replicate the present challenges facing the country, rather than resolve the resolve them.

In attendance at the anniversary occasion were the Governors of Kano and Jigawa States, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Abubakar Badaru, the Vice Chancellor of the Vice Chancellor Bayero University, Kano, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, Professor MD Sulieman well as a host of notable academics and politicians in Kano and in the North West.

He said: “If we break up into three places, the problem will be replicated into three places. If we break up a hundred places, the problems will be replicated a hundred times.”

Fayemi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, added that Nigeria has enough examples to warn it against such thinking, saying that South – Sudan fought for almost half a century to decouple itself from Sudan, but succeeded only to begin a war against itself.

The Ekiti state governor also adduced the case of Eritrea and Ethiopia, both countries he also lamented were presently at war in one form or the other after breaking away.

According to him, what Nigerians need is“ A united Nigeria that is founded on core principles of equity, fairness and of justice to all.”

Fayemi explained further that a united, equitable, fair Nigeria will give a sense of belonging to all parts of the country and would best serve the interest of all Nigerians.

He, however, urged those in leadership and political positions to emulate the virtues of Mallam Aminu Kano, the late sage of Talakawa politics, insisting that it is not enough for a few, scattered leaders to emulate his virtues, but for all to of those in governance to collectively adopt his lifestyle in the governance of the people.

Fayemi, whose paper titled, “Democracy, Good Governance and the Question of National Integration”, noted that the present crisis of nationhood bedevilling Nigeria is not all about religion and ethnicity, but as a result of the challenges of social livelihood.

Read the full speech of the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum Here: