Nigerians Shouldn’t Be Forced To Stay Together Without Agreed Terms , Says Ex-Gov Victor Attah

Channels Television -------- Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, has called for the adoption of a new constitution based on conditions unanimously agreed on by all regions for the country.
Attah noted that the current 1999 Constitution was forced on Nigerians by the military, adding that things have been the way they are in the country because Nigerians are being forced to stay together without any agreement on terms to stay together. 
Attah, who governed Akwa Ibom from 1999 to 2007, spoke as a guest on the Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
His words,  "So, what we should look at is how do we get back to a state of conditions and terms that will be agreeable to all Nigerians, if we don’t do that, we are wasting time.
“Let me tell you a very quick story. About two weeks ago, there was a story about a young girl of 14 who poisoned the groom and the guests at her wedding because she was being forced to the union she does not subscribe to. What that suggests is nobody on this earth will agree to remain in a union if they have not subscribed to the rules and conditions of staying together.
“So, we must not continue to force Nigerians to stay together without first of all allowing them to spell out the terms and conditions under which they want to stay together.
“For me, what is wrong is the constitution. We so not have a Nigerian constitution by Nigerians and the system must change."
According to the former governor, the 
1963 Constitution accommodated true federal system, but has been abandoned over what he referred to as the authoritarian system in place now.
Commenting on the various agitations for secession in the country, Obong said, “My conviction is that nobody really wants to go but they are just tired and fed up with what is going on in Nigeria," adding that, such agitations were triggered by frustration because nobody really wants to leave the country.
He stressed that discussion for a new constitution for the country had been ongoing for a long time, noting however, that the government had deliberately turned a blind eye to it, forcing some people to say that they want to go because they are not allowed to be what they want to be in the country. 
According to Attah, if the country operated the constitution they are operating today in the 60s, Obafemi Awolowo would not have been able to declare free education in the then Western Region.