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South, Middle Belt alliance plan ‘one million man’ march at UN to demand self-determination
Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) has announced plans to lead other leaders from the South and the Middle-Belt parts of Nigeria to protest at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN).
The alliance chaired by Professor Banji Akintoye said the aim of the protest tagged, ‘One Million Man March,’ was to demand for a referendum on self-determination and abolition of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
The Communications Manager for NINAS, Mr Maxwell Adeleye, announced the march in a statement on Tuesday.
The 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly will hold from September 14 to September 21, 2021.
According to the statement, 86-year-old Akintoye, Prof. Yusuf Turaki, Secretary-General of NINAS, Mr Tony Nnadi and the National Chairman of Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Wale Adeniran, among others, are expected to lead the march to the UN.
The leaders are members of the NINAS, who signed the Constitutional Force Majure declared on December 16, 2020, rejecting the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, calling for a United Nations supervised referendum.
“What will be happening at UNGA is that the members of Ilana Omo Oodua under the leadership of Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye alongside other members of NINAS from the Lower Niger and Middle-Belt of Nigeria will be holding a one million march opposite the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States, from 14th to 21st September, 2021,” the statement said.
“The marchers will demand for a referendum to decide on the rights to self-determination of the people who want an end to unitary systems of Nigeria which has been turned into an apartheid state.
“We shall also be demanding, first and foremost, for the abolition of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, which we have shown to be a fraud perpetrated against the people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria, given that the people did not make it.”
