A former Secretary to Abia State Government, Pastor Ralph Egbu has joined in the call for a national dialogue to determine the developmental future of Nigeria.
Egbu was speaking at the 2021 World Press Freedom Day organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia State Council in Umuahia.
He said time has come for Nigeria to take a critical look at its foundation, insisting that the foundation is not only faulty, but that it is not enough to carry the weight of the desires of its citizens.
According to him, “when we go to the table, we say, are we going to run zonal? Are we going to run on States;” stressing that “we have not sat down to say, this is the kind of nation we want, this is the kind of companies we want…”
Pastor Egbu, who identified marginalization as the major cause of grievances and agitation bedeviling the nation, maintained that Nigeria must be renegotiated and the terms of development made clearly, “The truth is that this present National Assembly is a product of a very faulty political architecture, explaining that “a situation where old Sokoto State was created at the same time with Lagos and Lagos has more population, Sokoto has divided itself by the machination of the impostors in power, the military, into four other States and Lagos has remained one. That foundation cannot stand,” he stated.
He said “the challenge in Nigeria is first, the National Assembly must cease their power and allow Nigerians to renegotiate the foundation of Nigeria.”
The Veteran Journalist and a Columnist with the Sun Newspaper while noting that there is an ongoing scramble for the soul of Nigeria, declared: “we must know what we want. What we want, not even restructuring, not even Igbo president and the likes.”
Pastor Egbu, who was also as a former Commissioner for Information & Strategy called on Journalists to rise to the occasion by setting agenda for the nation on which direction it should go.
“I have watched in the last 8 years…, NUJ, State, Federal have never asked about the laws. They have never taken critical interest on the laws that should govern either Freedom of Information or the operation.”
On the role of NBC as the regulatory agency for broadcast stations, he wondered why someone would wake up in Nigeria to say that Channels television, which was doing its professional work of hearing from a group that is fighting for self determination to balance story should get sanctioned, describing the action as the height of impunity.
