Chairman of a socio-political group, The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze has insisted that the right to self-determination must be subjected to a debate.

Speaking in Abuja at a conference organised by the Ethnic Nationalities Movement, Professor Nwabueze criticized the federal government for side-tracking ethnic groups whom he described as the real stakeholders with the lowest number of representation.

According to the professor, who now supports the conference but faults the modalities surrounding it, Nigeria cannot hope to resolve its challenges with misplaced priorities.

However the primary concern of the 25 out of 389 ethnic nationalities in the country, present at the forum remained the protection of their members against oppression and injustice by the Nigerian state.