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Daniel backs agitation for ethnic self-determinatioin
LERE OJEDOKUN, Abuja
GOVERNOR
Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State has said that there was nothing wrong in Nigerians
claiming and nurturing their primary identities as members of particular ethnic
groups.
In a veiled reference to the recent
resurgence in agitation for self-determination by ethnic nationalities, he
asserted that identifying with one’s birthplace or geo-political zone would
strengthen the "Nigerian enterprise" rather than hinder it.
The governor who spoke at a consultative
forum, organised by the state government for indigenes of the state in federal
public service in Abuja, however, insisted that agitations for recognition by
ethnic nationalities must be based on equity, fairness and justice.
While restating that "diversity is not an
adversity", Otunba Daniel called for restrain, saying there should be a
correlation between the demands of our immediate catchment and the larger
entity.
"The truth is that claiming and nurturing
our primary identities helps rather than hinders the Nigerian enterprise, as
long as we anchor our conduct on equity, fairness and justice.
"Thus, we need to refrain henceforth from
posing a false dichotomy between the demands of our immediate catchment and the
larger entity. Our Nigerianess and our Yorubaness can and indeed
should go together", he counselled.
Governor Daniel while describing long
military rule as a disorientation, said most indigenes feared to openly declare
their ethnic nationalities because of possible career stagnation or job loss.
He advised that this mindset be changed
under the democratic dispensation "if our country is to forge ahead as a land of
unity in diversity".
He further noted that every citizen needed
to be a good member of his or her family and ethnic group before he or she could
claim to be a good Nigerian.
"As members of a plural society, we should
see our dual identities not as mutually exclusive but rather as mutually
reinforcing towards the attainment of the common goal," he further stated.
On the significance of the event, hosted
at the Governor’s Lodge last Thursday, Otunba Daniel explained that it was
designed to forge a long - lasting and beneficial relationship between the
federal and state governments.
It was also meant for regular
consultations at which issues affecting individual and collective interests
could be addressed within the Nigerian context.
The forum, he added, was for sensitisation
of indigenes to the crucial roles expected of them in ensuring that the state
occupied its due and rightful place in the scheme of things.
The governor charged them to be
re-dedicated to their duties, stressing that the state has remained in the
forefront as far as socio-political and economic development of the country was
concerned over the years.
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