The elder statesman also condemned the quit notice by the Northern youth, given to Igbos in the North.

Key excerpts:

• “When Kanu talks about Biafra, he is talking nonsense. We do not want a second war…Kanu should drop the agitation.”
• “At the same time, it is arrogant and foolish on the part of some Northern youth to issue quit notice. You do not own the North.”
• “We have been living together since 1914 and from time to time, we have been changing the way of our lives.”
• “The war between 1967 and 1970 was an unfortunate one.”

Also…

• The elder statesman emphasised the need for restructuring for equity and balance in the country. He explained that though the call for restructuring had been loud in recent times, the country had been undergoing restructuring.
• He urged the National Assembly to re-visit the issue of devolution of power upon resumption from recess, saying it was one of the ways to properly restructure the country.
• “I am happy you believe in restructuring, which can be achieved within a short time but it may take up to 20 years if we do not agree among ourselves.
• On call to return to regionalism, Clark said “you cannot abolish the states now and say you want six regions. It is not going to be easy or possible now.
• “I feel we should use the same states as federating units and the local governments should remain with the states.”
• Clark promised to convene a meeting of elder statesmen across the country to find a lasting solution to the problem of restructuring. Sani said one of the reasons the devolution of power did not scale through in the National Assembly was the fear that state governments might abuse their powers. “The problem we have with the devolution of power is how to tackle some of the problems that come with it.”
• On derivation and resource control, the lawmaker said it was in the best interest of the country to stop thinking about oil because it was becoming non-attractive globally.