By Yemi Adedeji, Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the call for restructuring of this country is not about power play or about 2019 general elections.
He added that Nigeria and the issues being canvassed are bigger and more important than one election cycle, while describing linking the call for restructuring of the country to the 2019 elections elections as very unfortunate.
Atiku was speaking at the unveiling and public presentation of a book titled “We can’t All be Wrong (Nigeria and the Restructuring Debate), written by Ethelbert Okere where he was represented by Oladimeji Fabiyi.
He stressed that Nigeria should not wait for the oil to become insignificant before the country is repositioned.
According to him, “there is an aspect of restructuring debate that I find both amusing and disturbing at the same time. That is, the feeling of some that it is about winning or losing a debate or about power play. When you hear some speak they sound as though they are saying I am in power so you can say whatever you like and I won’t accept your position. Some have even linked the restructuring debate to the 2019 elections. That is very unfortunate. Our country and the issue being canvassed in the restructuring debate are bigger and more important than one election cycle.”
Atiku however gave three major reasons why he is an unrepentant advocate of restructuring: “It will help to reposition the country economically as oil loses significance as an energy source for the world and the revenue source for our country. Our current structure has been sustained by oil revenues. We can’t afford to wait till oil become insignificant before we reposition our country,”
“Restructuring will result in financially more viable federating units (stars or zones), with greater autonomy which will allow them to develop at their own paces, address peculiar local issues, and unleash their potentials, thus helping the country to reach its potentials. Competitive federalism or healthy competition among our federating units will return to our polity.
“It will help to devolve powers to state governments, allowing the federal government to focus on a few nationally critical issues and become more efficient and lean. This will then reduce the focus on the federal government and federal power. It will bring us more in line with federal systems that actually work well. And it will result in greater sense of justice, and peace and unity,” Atiku added.
