Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, says all parts of Nigeria need to interact and identify the peculiar needs and positions that need to be harmonised in order to achieve the goals of existing a federation. Dickson made the remark at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, soon after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Every part of the country needs to be carried along, we need to interact to know what the fears, concern and perspectives of each part are, so that we can at the end craft a position that will present the collective aspirations of all parts of the country because this country is in dire need of devolution and a return to the essential founding federal principles of our nation,” he stated.
The Governor said doing so will help enhance stability as well as unleash the huge potentials of the country.
The Governor, who was recently in Kaduna State to confer with his counterpart, Governor Nasiru El-Rufai on how to actualise true federalism and devolution of powers in Nigeria, said he will continue to consult far and wide on the matter.
“Few days ago I was in Kaduna to confere with my colleague and brother, the Governor of that state, who chaired the APC committee on true federalism. My view is to expand the scope of consultations on that matter.”
“All parts of Nigeria, especially the leadership of Northern Nigeria, which needs to be engaged and their buy-in and support is not only essential, it is indispensable to the success of the new Nigeria that we are trying to craft,” he said.
Dickson said his discussion with President Buhari centred on issues concerning Bayelsa State, the Niger-Delta region and Nigeria at large.
“We talked about the need to revisit the Brass Liquefied Natural Gas, the need for a change in the approach to security management in the Niger-Delta and the need for federal support as well as a whole range of other issues including what should be the federal response to the on-going debate on devolution,” Governor Dickson explained.
