Murray-Bruce: Nigeria’s Unity Far From ‘Settled’, Restructuring Only Hope

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce of Bayelsa East has said “Nigeria’s unity is far from being settled” unless the country restructures.

Murray-Bruce said this in the light of military’s “forceful” attempt to quell secession agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nigeria’s South East.

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The senator said Army’s show of force against IPOB members would only give impetus to the actualisation of Biafra.

He said: “Nigeria’s unity may be non-negotiable but Nigeria’s unity is far from being settled. It cannot be done by decrees. It can only be done by a consensus. Without a consensus, we will keep spending energy and resources trying to stop different agitations such as Boko Haram, IPOB and other militancies.

“We sincerely need to build a consensus and the only way to do that is by restructuring Nigeria to give room for all ethnic nationalities.

“Any attempt to use the military to suppress those agitations will only make them more popular,” the senator said.

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On restructuring, Murray-Bruce said, “It is a fallacy to say Nigeria is too big to fail. Bigness is not the yardstick for success. Let us stop relying on being big and start relying on being smart! The smart thing for a giant that is fighting it hard to make progress to do is to identify what is holding it back and fix it. Restructuring is Nigeria’s only hope!”

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