CAN has hosted Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, at an interactive session to make him understand the plight of the Nigerian Christians
The body of Christ then presented 7 demands before the presidential hopeful should in case he wins the 2023 presidential election
However, the former Lagos state governor might not be able to achieve 2 of the 7 demands of CAN while 2 of them already existed in the Nigeria constitution
The shake-up to the 2023 presidential election is getting tense as it is less than 100 days to the poll.
Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, is the most criticised candidate of all the presidential flagbearers in the 2023 poll.
The former governor of Lagos state was criticised for going for a Muslim running mate, particularly from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), led by Bishop Francis Wale Oke of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.
But CAN under a new leadership led by Daniel Ukoh decided to hold an interactive session with the presidential candidates.
On Wednesday, November 16, the religious body hosted Bola Tinubu in Abuja, and after listening to him, the body of Christ made a list of 7 demands from the APC presidential candidates.
The CAN demands from Tinubu are:
• State police or a decentralized policing system
• Devolution of power to states
• Equal rights for all religions and their adherents
• Right to self-determination by all ethnic groups
• Right to control natural resources by communities that bear them
• No to open grazing
• Equitable electoral system that guarantees the right to vote and be voted for by all.
However, 2 of these 7 demands are not achievable while another 2 are already part of Nigeria’s constitution. The remaining 3 are subject to the national assembly conclusion.
2 CAN’s demands that Tinubu may not be able to achieve
Right to self-determination by all ethnic groups
Making this come to reality means breaking Nigeria and a bow to secessionists’ demands.
This might not be achieved because Tinubu over time has shown himself as an advocate of true federalism rather than secession.
It is no hiding truth some Igbo and Yoruba are calling for succession but no president would like to take the credit that Nigeria breaking up during his or her administration after the country’s over 3 years of civil war to stay together.
In fact, an analyst, Bola Bolawole, alleged that Igbo’s foremost leader, Nnamdi Azikiwe stood against Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello’s position to insert a secession clause in Nigeria’s 1960 constitution.
His statement reads in part:
“The Igbo allegedly shares with the Yoruba! Zik stood resolutely against the position of Awo and Ahmadu Bello to have a secession clause inserted in the country’s 1960 Constitution. Unfortunately, the Igbo were the same people who turned around to insist on secession seven years down the road, fighting a three-and-half year civil war for it but losing in the end.”
Right to control natural resources by communities that bear them
Although resource control is part of the restructuring call but not jump from state and local governments to the traditional rulers as CAN might have suggested
However, for the states to control their resources, the votes of majority members in the house of assembly would be needed.
Many lawmakers might vote against it as much as resource control is important because many states have not grown enough to have adequate machinery to manage their resources.
Development is a gradual process but states having control over their resources might not be achieved in four years if Tinubu wins the 2023 presidential elections.