The father of Enugu State and the man who led the effort to make that state a reality has spoken! Elder statesman and former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief (Dr) Christian Chukwuma Onoh, Aninefungwu 1 and Okaa Omee of Ngwo, Enugu State blamed the numerous problems facing Nigeria today on an existing structural imbalance in her 48 years of existence. Chief CC Onoh who was speaking on the occasion of Nigeria's 48th Independence anniversary remarked that not only did the British unwillingly 
grant Nigeria Independence in 1960, it went on to rig the 1962 election to produce a Northerner as Prime Minister, whereas the Sardauna of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello, leader of the North then, never wanted one Nigeria!
grant Nigeria Independence in 1960, it went on to rig the 1962 election to produce a Northerner as Prime Minister, whereas the Sardauna of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello, leader of the North then, never wanted one Nigeria! The Sardauna's position, the 80 year Octogenarian said, was contrary to the vision of one Nigeria promoted by other founding fathers, including Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo, of blessed memories. Chief CC Onoh, who blamed the structural imbalance in Nigeria on Northern domination of power, spoke to a correspondent at his country home in Ngwo, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Chief C
C Onoh recalled that, "three parties emerged then - namely the west'
s party Action Group (AG) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo with slogan of 'More Abundant', the north's party Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) led by Sardauna of Sokoto Ahmadu Bello with slogan of 'One North, One People, One Destiny' and the east's party National Council for Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) led by Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, later National Council for Nigerian Citizens) with the slogan OF 'One Nigeria'. According to Chief CC Onoh, it is obvious from the northern slogan that the Sardauna never believed i
n one Nigeria, but in 'One North, One People, One Destiny'. The British was forced to grant Independence to Nigeria and Zik also said that we got Independence on a platter of gold. No sooner we got the Independence in 1960 than trouble started in the North in 1962, and 'Operation wetie' between Awolowo and Akintola that prompted the re-alignment of political parties. Continuing Chief CC Onoh said, we must remember that Sardauna said that if for any reason the British go, the North will continue their uninterrupted conquest to the sea. The British prepared the way for them and they rigged the election. And when you talk about election rigging today, it is the African perfecting what the British taught him. They (British
) rigged the election to ensure that the North produced the Prime Minister. They rigged the election because they did not trust Zik and Awolowo. It was as a result of the trouble in the West that got two political incompatibles to unite, Zik, Okpara and Ademola or so. With this, the British were hoping to come back and this led to the 1966 coup. At the heat of the coup, Gowon said that the basis for unity of the country does not exist. Since then, 48 years after, the Igbo have been at the receiving end," Onoh said.
n one Nigeria, but in 'One North, One People, One Destiny'. The British was forced to grant Independence to Nigeria and Zik also said that we got Independence on a platter of gold. No sooner we got the Independence in 1960 than trouble started in the North in 1962, and 'Operation wetie' between Awolowo and Akintola that prompted the re-alignment of political parties. Continuing Chief CC Onoh said, we must remember that Sardauna said that if for any reason the British go, the North will continue their uninterrupted conquest to the sea. The British prepared the way for them and they rigged the election. And when you talk about election rigging today, it is the African perfecting what the British taught him. They (British
) rigged the election to ensure that the North produced the Prime Minister. They rigged the election because they did not trust Zik and Awolowo. It was as a result of the trouble in the West that got two political incompatibles to unite, Zik, Okpara and Ademola or so. With this, the British were hoping to come back and this led to the 1966 coup. At the heat of the coup, Gowon said that the basis for unity of the country does not exist. Since then, 48 years after, the Igbo have been at the receiving end," Onoh said. 
According to Chief CC Onoh, since the murder of Aguiyi-Ironsi, no Igbo man has tasted power, while the military oligarchy from the North that held onto power over the years made sure they favoured their area more than other sections of the country on issues like state and local government creations that formed the basis for revenue allocations. Chief CC Onoh said that before oil was discovered in Nigeria, the North insisted on 50 per cent derivation, all targeted against a section of the country and through the back door, with the creation of local governments by the military and revenue allocation formula, carted away everything.
Continuing Chief CC Onoh said that when oil
was discovered in Oloibiri 
Rivers State, Shell BP and the North conspired to change the horse in the middle of the stream. They slashed the hitherto 50% derivation and introduced a new 33.3 per cent derivation and by the time former military head of state Sani Abacha died, it went down to as little as 1.5 per cent derivation.
Continuing Chief CC Onoh said that when oil
was discovered in Oloibiri 
Rivers State, Shell BP and the North conspired to change the horse in the middle of the stream. They slashed the hitherto 50% derivation and introduced a new 33.3 per cent derivation and by the time former military head of state Sani Abacha died, it went down to as little as 1.5 per cent derivation. On the possibility of the proposed constitution review by the National Assembly to address these issues, he said the legislators lack the credibility to embark on the exercise, having all emerged through the most fraudulent elections in Nigeria. Chief CC Onoh advocated the use of a plebiscite in producing a new constitution for Nigeria; Chief CC Onoh also described the newly created Niger Delta Ministry as a mere palliative that cannot solve the problems of the region.
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