From ALOYSIUS ATTAH, Onitsha
Ohanaeze chief and Publicity Secretary, Action Congress of Nigeria, Lagos State, Chief Joe Igbokwe has said that the death of Nigeria's literary icon, Chinua Achebe should be a veritable opportunity for the Federal Government to address the issue of glaring marginalization of the South-East geopolitical zone in the country.
Speaking yesterday after the commendation service for Achebe at St. Philips Anglican Church, Ogidi, Anambra state, Igbokwe said that since Achebe believed in justice and equity, the Nigerian government should not hesitate to tackle the issue of additional state for the South-East.
He said that issues of election rigging, underdevelopment, silence of the authorities while some sections of the country are boiling and other things which Achebe abhorred while alive are still starring us in the face in Nigeria. He called on the authorities to show serious commitment in rebuilding Nigeria as according to him, Nigeria is not making progress with the present trend of corruption and insecurity.
"What Achebe said about my people is still an issue today in Nigeria. We are still saddled with five states while other zones have six and seven.
If you look at it critically from the side of history, in the 40's and 50's before independence, we had about 21 provinces in the south and 14 provinces in the north. As we moved further, we graduated into three regions, two in the south and one in the north.
We moved further again and had four regions, three in the south, and one in the north. But today, we have 36 states with the north taking 19 whereas the south has 17 thereby creating a huge disparity. In a situation like this, where the funds accruable to the states are tilted towards one area there can't be justice and when you don't have justice, you can't have progress" he said.
Via: Sun News Online
Yes i totally agree with them on this cos it is the truth. The death should change a lot of things that needs to be changed,