By Joseph Kingston
Calabar
A socio-political group – Efik Eburutu Royal Fraternity Forum, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan would be the last president of Nigeria particularly with the determination of some ethnic nationalities in the country to go their different ways.
Speaking to our reporter in Calabar, High Chief Eyo Bassey Eyo-Cobham, Chairman of the group, said the Nigerian state had come to its dead end as “each nation state is going its different way.”
He said: “We have already told the whole world that we need a sovereign state for our people. Based on the amalgamation treaty which stipulated that we could stay together for 100 years, the geographical entity called Nigeria has ceased to exist since January this year. The forced marriage has been terminated and Jonathan is the last President of the amalgamated Nigeria.”
Eyo-Cobham said his people were poised to take its case to the United Nations, since, according to him, there are provisions in UN Charter for self determination, adding “this we shall pursue with vigour shortly after concluding our ongoing consultation phase.”
Their primary grouse with the Nigerian state, he said, was an alleged marginalisation of the Efiks, explaining, “the way our people in both Cross River and Akwa Ibom are marginalised and treated as beast of burdens in Nigeria are indications Nigeria has no business whatsoever with us.”
“We have no road in the whole of Efik kingdom. The Calabar – Itu high way has become death trap. The Calabar- Ikang road leading to Bakassi has completely collapsed. The Tinapa business resort is not working because the federal government does not want to work. The Calabar Port, which should have been benefiting economically to our people, is not functional because the federal government deliberately refuses to dredge the Calabar waterway.
“Let the President point out one single outstanding project he has done in Efik land in particular and South South in general. We do not know what has become of the East-West road.
On the just concluded National Conference, the group said “we actually expected a sovereign national conference and not an advisory body to the President.”
