BEVERLY HILLS, March 03, (THEWILL) – Leaders of the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones met on Thursday with a call for the restructuring of the Country in a manner that would make all citizens equal partners and partakers.

Warning of an impending disaster if Nigeria continues with the present system, they stated that a situation where some people were reduced to second class citizens was not good for the harmonious co-existence, unity and development of the country.

The leaders met at the Apapa, Lagos residence of Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark. The South-East team was led by the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo.

Welcoming the leaders at an open session before they dissolved into a close-door strategic meeting, Clark expressed delight over the election of Nwodo as Ohanaeze President-General, stressing that with him “a Daniel has come to judgment”.

The former federal commissioner for Information harped on the need for Nigeria to be restructured, stating that; “we are light years away from the kind of country our founding fathers bequeathed to us.”

He recalled that at independence in 1960, the Richard’s Constitution spelt out what Nigeria should be – a Federal Republic with three regions – North, East and West as the components.

According to him, “Each of the regions is equal and each is allowed to develop at its own pace.

“Whatever resources you have in your region, you take 50 per cent and the remaining 50 per cent is sent to the centre, which is further shared between the centre and the regions. That was the country we knew.

“Today, the reverse is the case. We complain of xenophobia in South Africa, what do we have in Nigeria?”

Clark asserted that, “a situation where some groups of Nigerians speak others listen but cannot speak means we don’t have a country.”

He advocated an egalitarian society where everyone would be equal because “this country belongs to all of us”, expressing hope that the meeting of the leaders would bear good fruits.

In his remarks, the Ohanaeze leader said the South-South were not just brothers but neighbour of the South-East, hence the need for both zones to collaborate and work together.

He said his team came to extend the hand of fellowship to South-South to fashion avenues that would improve not only the fortunes of the two zones but the entire country.

Nwodo was categorical that the South-East and Ndigbo aspired to have a country where every part of Nigeria would participate and the future generation would have a better country than the present generation.

On the marginalization of the South-East in terms of number of states, poor infrastructure and non-headship of any of the security agencies, Nwodo expressed concern over a recent statement attributed to the Emir of Kano that the Igbo were being punished for going to war against Nigeria.

Noting that Igbo youths want to abandon Nigeria for a Biafra Republic, he stated that Igbo elders who experienced the civil war would not want the country to be plunged into another war, hence their clamour for urgent solutions.

“We think that the rest of the country should come together and end an impending catastrophe,” declared the Ohanaeze President-General.