TheCable

Tanko Yakasai, elder statesman and political adviser in the second Republic, says the north needs a master plan for its future and that of its people.

According to Daily Trust, he made this known on Thursday while reacting to the quit notice to the Igbo by some northern youth groups.

Yakasai faulted the current situation in the north as “it is wrong for us to be living in the way we are without any plan for our development.”

He said the recent meeting by the northern groups calls for more action and should be followed with a “more serious” meeting by northern leaders.

“I read the joint position paper by the Arewa citizens action for change. First of all I believe there is only a Nigerian citizenship, as long as we have Nigeria,” he said.

“It is a good beginning, but I think we needed a deeper and more serious extermination of our situation, which I believe is overdue.

“It does not matter whether Nigeria will continue as a single political entity or not. We in the north need to have a kind of master plan for our future and the future of our people. It is wrong for us to be living in the way we are without any plan for our development for the present and for our future.

“A preparatory committee should be set up to define the objectives for the meeting. I for one never believed that Nigerians will be better off in separation.

“I have been having this conviction right from 1953 and my position remains the same till today. But, it will be foolhardy to sit idly bye in the face of one agitation after another. In a period of uncertainty, it is wrong to assume everything is normal.

“It is better to have as many options as possible at your disposal. Even if the need to use any option shall not arise, in the end you have nothing to lose by being prepared for the unexpected,”

He also said the “quit notice” to the Igbo as well as the “denial of grazing right” to herdsmen in the country are unconstitutional.

“The quit notice to Igbo by some people in the north and the purported denial of grazing right to Fulani herders in the south are against human rights provisions of the Nigerian constitution, which guaranteed freedom of movement to all Nigerians.”