Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina state, says a
referendum on Biafra will fail.

In an interview with Vanguard, Masari said referendum
may be successful in the south-east but the region
has only five out of 36 states in the country.

The governor said agitation in the country would
significantly reduce if government could provide basic
amenities for its citizens.

He said instead of the country’s elite to address these
issues with the position and power they possess,
they’ve been creating division among the people.

“Referendum on what? If we are to have a referendum
on Biafra, it will fail; even if it will win, it will only be in
the South-East zone which has only five states
against 31 other states,” Masari said.

“If you are out of power, then the roof must collapse. If
you are in power, you don’t want to lose it. It is a
Nigerian behaviour that once you are out of power, let
the roof collapse. I think what we need to do is to
work towards providing the basic necessities of life for
the people. If you do that, all these agitations will
significantly reduce.

“But we the elite who are opportune to be in the
position of authority are using that to divide the people
because once the people are united, they start looking
at us. But if we create this confusion, then it is in the
elites’ best interest.

“Look at the Niger Deltans, have they examined
themselves? They are the richest people in this
country. Name any institution, they are the owners.

The Hausa man, what does he have? What do we
have?”

The governor said although he would support any
move that would correct the country’s past mistakes.

“I was in a constitutional conference during Abacha
era. In that conference, some people were agitating
for 8-state-structure, devolution of powers, this and
that. There are certain aspects of devolution of powers
and responsibilities that I support,” he said.

“I support anything that will lead us to the correction of
the mistakes of the past. Forget about these people,
they are agitating from the outside; when they come
into conference, they do something else. We were
there. Obasanjo had his own conference. Where is the
report? Obasanjo should have made the report of his
conference public.

“Jonathan should have made his report public. The
Buhari government has not organised any
Constitutional Conference, or have we done one? So,
why are you asking us to give you what we don’t
have? If we have done a conference, then it would be
right for you to ask us to give a report.

“Why was it that Jonathan was not able to implement
the report of his conference? Why was it that
Obasanjo was not able to implement the report of his
own conference? There are some people who make
noise for attention and there are those who are
sincere. But those who sincerely make noise are few.

“Go through the history of agitation and you will find a
disturbing pattern in which agitators of today become
the proponents of tomorrow. It all depends on the
position in which you find yourself.”

TheCable