The speaker of the Lagos state house of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa has admonished the federal government to dialogue with groups seeking for secession from Nigeria.
Obasa made this statement during a debate on a motion about the 22 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria raised by Hon. Setonji David. He condemned the deployment of military forces to the south-east adding that the move won’t achieve the desired result or quell agitations.
He added that it was no crime to agitate or seek for a separate nation.
“There is no crime in seeking for separate nations within an existing nation,”
He explained that the the right to protest should not be taken away from Nigerians as long as such right is not taken for granted. Obasa encouraged the government to follow the path of dialogue, pointing out that Nigerian lawmakers must work hard to rejig the 1999 constitution.
However, Lagos assembly members praised President Buhari for declaring June 12 as democracy day.
