Jonathan must speak on Bayelsa new flag’ …that’s how secession begins-Lawyers

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, Kaduna-based lawyer Yahaya Mahmood (SAN) has said.

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.”

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.