Interethnic Marriages Panacea To Nigeria’s Break-up Clamour

Anthony Sani, a former secretary general of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), says talks about the disintegration of Nigeria will not materialise.

Sani said this during an interview with The Sun Newspaper.

He said it is not possible for the country to break up on the basis of ethnicity, adding that we would have a situation where members of the same family will be living in separate countries because of religious and faith disparity.

On statements attributed to some southern leaders that the country could disintegrate if it is not restructured, Sani said the 1999 constitution has been subjected to series of series of amendments at different times.

He berated the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum for claiming the 1999 constitution was designed to place the north above other regions.

“I have heard the hyperbole by some people who say the country may break up if the current constitution is not replaced by people’s constitution that contains restructured Nigeria,” Sani said in an interview with The Sun.

Sani averred that the 1999 constitution is a replica of of 1979 that was democratically drafted by by an elected constituent assembly.

“What is more, the 1999 constitution has undergone amendments by each of the National Assembly. In fact, the 9th National Assembly is on the process of amending the constitution.

He said this is not the first time Nigeria break up is being predicted.

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“America once predicted the country would fail by 2015, a forecast that never came onto its own. Earlier Col. Gaddafi had suggested the country be split along religious or ethnic lines. But there are so many families with members who are of different faiths, while there are over 250 ethnic groups. It is not possible for families to be of different countries on the basis of differences in faith

“That is why some of us are sanguine that relative pluralism that comes with urbanization and interethnic marriages will soon supplant the sense of cloistered communities with strong historical ties to places” He said