The Pere of Seinbiri Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, Pere Charles Ayemi Botu has urged the United States of America, USA and the international community to quickly intervene in Nigeria.
He also called on the Federal Government to immediately conduct a referendum to address the myriad of agitations in various parts of the country.
Pere Botu made the call when receiving the US Consulate General at his palace in Warri palace.
Pere Botu stated that the call became imperative because all Southerners including the East and West would soon lose their multitrillion naira investments in the north owing to the threat by Arewa Youths.
He stressed that the northerners would not separate any non-Hausa element amongst the Igbos when the time to attack was set.
While noting it was because of the oil deposits in Niger Delta that the country was still clinging together, the monarch expressed disaffection over an alleged hidden agenda of the northern Nigerian elements.
Botu also stated that Nigeria’s Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN was wrong for suggesting that the Nigerian federation was indivisible and indissoluble.
“Niger Delta is the hub and the life wire of Nigeria, because if not for the oil, Nigeria wouldn’t have been an entity. The oil is the unifying factor of Nigeria and also the economic life wire of this country.
“Icons like Professor Wole Soyinka, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have all been calling for restructuring, to restructure the country in the sense that we will see ourselves to live as human beings that are being fairly treated, where there is truth, Justice and fairness to all, in a federation.
“What constitution did Lord Frederick Lugard use to amalgamate Nigeria? That brings us to a recent comment by the Nigerian Acting President, a legal luminary, a clergy. The Nigeria constitution that was crafted by the last military junta, which had no impute from the silent majority of Nigerians.
“This man said Article 2 of Nigerian 1999 Constitution says that Nigeria is indivisible and indissoluble and it becomes illegal and unlawful to agitate. Mr Acting President goofed for making that statement and with every respect to his position, I disagree with him because constitution is very dynamic. What is permanent in life is change.
“Under the circumstance, the peaceful way to go is restructuring and the best tool to achieve that is referendum. That is why we call on the US and the developed West to prevail on federal government to allow referendum for people to fairly determine where they want to be”, Botu said.
In his sparse comment at the meeting, the Economic/Political Adviser at the United States’ Consulate General, Thomas Hines, said the purpose of his team’s visit to the region was to explore ways to work with stakeholders in the region in a bid to sustain the existing peace and unity.
Hines, who was accompanied to the monarch’s palace by the Consulate-General’s Political Officer, Maria Davydenko, stated that the American Ambassador to Nigeria was concerned with recent challenging developments across the country.
“It’s good to come and hear how things are going. We’ve heard about current developments and how people are very concerned.
“We just want to see how things are here in Warri and see you. We enjoy seeing you. It’s good to exchange views and see what we can do together”.
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