National Assembly told to divide Nigeria into 12 regions
- Barrister Oladotun Hassan has called on the National Assembly to divide Nigeria into 12 regions in the ongoing constitutional amendment
- The legal icon made the call in an exclusive with TheTalk.NG, adding that some states should also be renamed
- Hassan noted that Nigeria needed more than 12 regions considering the fact that there were over 400 ethnic groups in the country
The National Assembly has been urged to divide Nigeria into 12 regions to reflect the real identity of each tribe in Nigeria. Oladotun Hassan, a legal practitioner, made the call in an exclusive interview with TheTalk.NG.
Hassan also called for the review of some states’ names, adding that they should reflect the names of the people in the state. His statement reads:
“Let our state equally be reviewed. Lagos is not Lagos, you can describe Lagos as Eko. Even we in Lagos we called Lagos as Ipinle Eko, because Lagos is a Portuguese word, not even our ancestral word. Ekiti, Ondo, Osun are all traditional names. Names that are not part of us should be changed. Port Harcourt is an English word.
“We need to look at the name that reflects our identity. For me, it is high time we review the establishment of new states. The region should be spread, we should be thinking about twelve regions, not just six. We are beyond 12 regions, but with all our over 400 ethnic nationalities, we can redesign into the visions that best suit the clans that are living in some particular zones into state, local governments and regions.
“We need to have the Yoruba region, which must go from the Jebba area of Niger state, of Kwara state, some part of Kogi state, we have the Ayetoro in Kogi, these are all Yoruba land. We have some areas within the Dahomey that are been equally encroached by another country, due to a lack of proper delineation after the advent of the colonial masters.
“So, by virtue of our largeness. People need to identify themselves properly. We don’t say Nigeria should change its name, but at least, let us do something that would best describe us. It doesn’t change our identity as Nigeria, it would even make us more patriotic citizens, who are not necessarily born.”
Why each region should have tribal names
He further echoed the position that each region should be named after the major tribe that occupied it, such as the Southeast being named the Igbo region and vice versa. He said:
:An Igbo man will be proud to call himself an Igbo man and not a southeast man, a Yoruba man will not go into the public domain and be calling himself I am a southwestern man, no, he will equally just say I am Omoluabi from Yorubaland, and that best describes us. Even a Hausa man will not say I am from the northeast. Have you seen a Hausa man calling himself I am from North Central, northwest? They will always just want to say I am a Zamfara, I am from Kaduna. That’s what they believe in.
“This delineation of Southeast and Southwest is more of throwing us into unnecessary war. What Senator Ali Ndume was saying is just a deceitful shelling of Crocodile tears weeping sentiment against the Yoruba people that all appointments have been riddled by the Yoruba people, no, appointments are not riddled by the Yoruba people.
“Everybody has a stake in what is called the Federal government. Some seats are even more important. Do you know the number of northerners who are permanent secretaries in Federal ministries? Do you know the number of heads of federal agencies and parastatals who are northern people?”
Source: TheTalk.NG
