The government of Bayelsa State has
announced its approval of a state-owned flag, coat of arms and anthem law, a
decision it says is in line with the vision of its founding fathers. After the
emblems were approved at the end of the 7th meeting of the state’s executive
council held on Monday 6th August, the state announced that the flag, state
anthem and coat of arms will reflect the colours and symbols of the Ijaw nation
and will be put to use as soon as Governor Seriake Dickson accents to the
corresponding law passed by the state’s House of Assembly.
Kaduna-based
lawyer Yahaya Mahmood (SAN) has said that President Goodluck Jonathan should
make known the position of his government on the secession threats by Niger
Delta groups and attempt by Bayelsa State government to unveil new flag,
It is on record that the factional leader of the
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Dr Goodluck Diigbo and
Niger Delta militant leader Asari Dokubo have threatened secession and war in
the country.
He said, “The Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria which remains our Supreme Law defines Nigeria as one indivisible and
indissoluble Sovereign Nation. Each public officer and political office
holder also took oath of allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is time for President Jonathan to come out
categorically to tell the nation if he wants us to remain as one united
country.
“The President must categorically caution Dr Goodluck
Diigbo who was said to have declared Ogoni self-government and Asari Dokubo for
his threat of war. The President must also caution Bayelsa State Governor and
the State Assembly. People are beginning to think that those threatening our
unity are the real people behind the ‘real boko Haram’ - which attack mosques
and churches, kill Christian and Moslems. Not those being accused by elder
Clark.”
The bayelsa State government described the decision as
a reflection of its stand on Ijaw mobilization, Ijaw integration and the need
to promote Ijaw fundamental interest, “which clearly is not subordinate to any
other interests.”
“This decision also underscores government’s
belief that this state, like any other state, is where the Ijaws, the fourth
largest ethnic nationality, has as its home. Bayelsa is home to all Ijaws both
at home and abroad,” Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the chief press secretary to the
state, said in a statement.
“The emblem, therefore, will help serve as a
unifying force and rallying point for all our people. It says a lot about the
preservation of our culture, our essential values as a people and as a race.
These are the qualities that distinguish us and make us who we are: proud,
great people of the Ijaw Nation, irrepressible in spirit, a people that are
second to none in this country.”
Iworiso-Markson went on to explain that the
step is not in any way different from what other states in the federation have
done in the past, saying “It is common knowledge that virtually all the states
in the southwestern region such as Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti State
have since launched theirs. The most recent was the north central state of
Kwara.
“In the South-South, Cross River and Rivers
State are the only two states in the region that have embraced this noble
concept. In the case of Rivers, it was done since the 1970s.
“We believe that Bayelsa State, being the only
state that can be considered as the home state of the Ijaw race, deserves even
much more to blaze this trail than any other state in the federation, given its
uniqueness. This much is true because of the emphasis we place on the
propagation of the Ijaw ideals and what we stand for as a people: the Ijaw
ideology.”
He further described the launch of the emblem
as critical to the state’s development matching its drive to project it as a
world-class tourist destination, the new frontier for eco-tourism and an
investment haven.
Bayelsa is one of the country’s newest states,
having been created in 1996 out of the old Rivers State.
Also reacting, constitutional lawyer Fred Agbaje (SAN)
described attempts by the Bayelsa State government to change the flag and
anthem as the beginning of secession, describing it as “an affront on the
Constitution.”
Agbaje, who spoke from London yesterday, said the move
could mark the beginning of secession.
“When an item is not on the concurrent list can a state
legislate on it ? The issue of a State flag and anthem are not issues on the
concurrent list; the state government cannot make a law on flags,” Agbaje said.
The President of Flag Foundation of Nigeria, Barrister
Agiri Chris, said by implication, what the state was asking for is autonomy
which has to do with true federalism where federating states can run their
affairs, citing State Police as an example.
He noted that Lagos State government has also adopted a
seal of government but added that that does not take the place of the national
flag.
However, a professor of Law Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) said
that the state was only expressing what it was entitled to in a true federal
system.
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