GOV. ACCUSES ZAMFARA STATE OF TREASON.

[dan kauye]

ANY state in the federation which resorts to discriminatory policies against other Nigerians may be on collision course with the Federal Government.


From the reaction of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Charles Akinlolu Olujimi, the stage appears set for a test of will between the Federal and Zamfara State Governments over the latter's recent ban on non-indigenes in its schools.

In an interview yesterday, Olujimi told The Guardian that the government was studying the situation to establish the veracity of the report.

Olujimi said it was treasonable for any of the 36 federating states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to take such an unconstitutional decision.

Zamfara State Commissioner for Science and Technical Education, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed said recently the state government had set up a committee to screen out non-indigenes from candidates short-listed for admission into post-primary institutions in the state. The objective of the policy, according to him, was to meet the educational needs of the indigenes of the state.

But Olujimi said "if it is true that Zamfara State has rolled out the policy of stopping non-indigenes from attending public schools, then it is a total negation of relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution and amounted to a threat to the unity and cohesion of the corporate entity called Nigeria."

He declared that the segregation policy was a clear violation of sections 18(41) and 42 of the 1999 Constitution.

Section 18 of the constitution provides that government is to ensure equal and adequate educational opportunities for all Nigerians, while section 41 provides that every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout the country and to reside in any part thereof. Section 42 states that all Nigerians are guaranteed right to freedom from discrimination.

The nation's chief law officer said the government would certainly do something to stop "this threat to national unity."

He said: "That (discriminatory policy) is very wrong and is a threat to the unity of Nigeria. Nigeria is a federation and under the constitution it is unconstitutional to bar citizens from attending public schools because of their place of origin."

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka had on Thursday at a public lecture titled "Myth and history in the quest for identity" in honour of the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion stated that "although the agitation by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) had become a nightmare to the entire country," the real signal of secession is the decision and actions of Zamfara State Government."

Soyinka said at the event in Benin, the Edo State: "Are you not aware that Zamfara State has seceded from the nation? Or, let me tell Mr President that Zamfara State has opted out of the federating unit."
peace y'all.

[admin]

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