Nigeria needs urgent restructuring, says NNSG

THE Nigerian National Summit Group (NNSG) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “urgently put a halt to the current drift of Nigeria towards anarchy, economic distress and disunity” by immediately setting in motion, steps to implement fundamental resolutions of the 2014 National Conference that were adopted consensually by all the delegates.

Warning against the consequences of unnecessary delay, the Executive Secretary of NNSG, Mr. Tony Uranta said, “Nigeria could suffer if we refuse to begin restructuring now.”

The group also observed that in recent times, very important voices, even from the north, have come out loudly in support of restructuring, saying that this, of course, have made the subject of restructuring, a matter of necessity for President Buhari to address.

NNSG further noted that in an article titled: ‘The State Of The Nigerian Nation’, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at the recent Leadership Governor of the Year award ceremony, lent a ringing support to the drive towards true federalism.

According to Uranta, “Joda in the article, posited that Nigeria has passed through difficult times, including a civil war and has survived but we must not ascribe the fact of our survival to anything like military might; rather it was because ordinary Nigerians overwhelmingly desire to live together in one united country but under some acceptable arrangement.”

“Joda also said in the article that it is clear from all we are passing through that there is a sufficient body of opinion around the country that the present arrangement is not adequate and needs to be discussed further.

“Atiku in his own remarks at the Awards on September 18, 2012, did not only call for true federalism, he also regretted not supporting former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s earlier call for the creation of six semi-autonomous regions.

“The former vice president affirmed that Dr. Ekwueme obviously saw what some of them did not see at the time “there is, he said, too much concentration of power and resources at the centre, which is stifling Nigeria’s march to greatness and threatening its unity because of the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions over-centralisation generates.”

Reiterating that the call for restructuring is not just a call by few disgruntled people, Uranta said, “As now obvious, from the above, this is not a call by just a few “disgruntled” sections of Nigeria. The Southwest, North-Central, Middle Belt, South East and South-South have been spearheading this campaign for true holistic change via restructuring for decades.

“Now that Arewa Chieftains like Joda and Atiku have admitted to the urgent need to embark on this pressing national exercise, President Buhari must recognise that the North West and North East strongly desire restructuring.”

Uranta therefore said that “Mr. President cannot, but immediately step up to the plate and fulfill his Oath of Office to serve Nigerians by guaranteeing our welfare to the very best of his ability and opportunities” adding, “We must not think that Somalia, Yugoslavia or Syria are mirages, if Nigerians do not calculatedly put an end to this national drift towards madness, we will have ourselves to blame. What a tragedy it would be if Nigeria’s failure were to happen on Buhari’s watch. We pray not!”