Obasanjo stresses need for continuous negotiations to save Nigeria

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Friday, warned that Nigeria risks division without renegotiating how it wants to move ahead as one united entity.

According to Obasanjo, “Nigeria must continue to renegotiate its unity and give listening ear to the complaints of all ethnic groups in the country.”

Obasanjo noted this will give the country’s various ethnic nationalities a sense of belonging thus enhancing their effective participation in its socio-economic discussions and national development.

The former Nigerian leader spoke at the 7th convocation lecture of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in Abuja.

He believed that, “such periodic discussions will provide opportunity for all stakeholders to ventilate their views, grievances and possibly provide superior arguments, solutions or ideas that could positively challenge the existing practices.”

According to him, the existing federal system of government practised in Nigeria needed additional deliberate arrangements that require intricate deals, trade-offs and reciprocities to build and sustain.

He added, “Secondly, the federal systems are delicate and difficult to manage. This was because their success cannot be guaranteed or taken for granted. Research confirmed that the number of failed federal systems outnumbered the successful ones.

“Restructuring represents a continuous correction, adjustment, and reconfiguration process by which federal system works and reworks its instrumentalities; to guarantee success and efficiencies of federalism.”