Ekwueme Hails Abacha on Zonal Structure, State Creation
From Chinedu Eze in Abakaliki
Second Republic Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, has given kudos to the late military leader, Gen. Sani Abacha, for recognising the six geopolitical zones in the country and enshrining them in the constitution.
Speaking Monday at the 50th birthday party for Ebonyi State Governor, Dr. Sam Egwu, organised by members of the State Executive Council, friends and associates of the governor, Ekwueme, however, regretted that Abacha did not live to see the implementation of the constitution he nurtured.
According to Ekwueme, not only did Abacha believe in the six zonal structure, he also made it possible for the principle to be enshrined in the constitution, based on the recommendations of the then Constituent Assembly.
He said that the essence of the six zonal structures was for equitable sharing of positions.
Ekwueme said that when the quest for creation of more states became intense, Abacha decided to create six additional states in 1996; one each from the six geo-political zones.
"That is why we have Ebonyi for South East, Bayelsa for South South, Ekiti for South West, Nasarawa for North Central, Gombe for North East and Zamfara for North West," he added.
He said that Egwu, since his emergence five years ago as the governor, has acquitted himself and justified the creation of the state. "Even a blind man will see that a lot has changed".
He wished Egwu a happy birthday, adding that having reached the golden age of 50, he should go for a century.
Also in a tribute, a former presidential aspirant under the National Republican Convention (NRC), Dr. Joe Nwodo, said Egwu, through his people-oriented development programmes, has been able to show that the leadership crisis in Nigeria is largely a crisis of credibility.
"Our governments increasingly lack credibility. And without a credible leadership there cannot be a credible followership," he said
Nwodo noted that the most baffling thing was that Egwu has attained all the success with the meagre allocation to the state from the Federation Account.
"You have cast doubts on the prevalent belief that frugal management of economic resources is not possible in Nigeria and in the process you are exploding the myth that there must exist an inevitable gap between the revenue receipts and what is on the ground," he stated.
Earlier, the chairman of the organising committee, Chief Anthony Agbo, recalled the struggle for the creation of Ebonyi State, which he said was made possible by Abacha.
Agbo who is also the Commissioner for Public Utilities, said they were motivated to celebrate Egwu's 50th birthday due to the governor's enormous contributions to humanity.
|
