Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has suggested that the ‘state of origin’ clause in the nation’s constitution should be replaced with ‘state of residency’  in order to promote national unity and integration.

In a statement titled, “An Eye For An Eye Will Leave Nigeria Blind”, which he signed and issued on Sunday, Atiku called for the restructuring of the country to reduce the quit notices emanating from different regions of the country which have generated a lot of heat in the polity.

“First and foremost, it is a fallacy to believe that there are people of northern or southern origin. Nigeria only has people of one origin. We are all of Nigerian origin. As Nigerians, we must be pragmatic enough to realise the obvious truth that an eye for an eye will leave Nigeria blind.

“Let me at this juncture, remind these “quit noticers” that when brothers fight to the death over a domestic dispute, it is their neighbours that eventually end up inheriting their father’s property.

“It is also for this reason, among others, that I have urged and still urge that Nigeria should be restructured and that state of origin ought to be removed from our constitution and other relevant laws and policies, to be replaced by state of residency,” Atiku said.

He argued that if Nigerians were tied to their states of residency rather than that of their ancestral origins, the quit notices being issued from several quarters would not have arisen.

He cited that if the local Emiratis in the United Arabs Emirates could live together in peace with the foreigners who outnumber them, then he saw no reason why such brotherly acts of hospitality and tolerance could not be replicated in Nigeria.