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Mimiko, Maku, Akinrinade, others urge restructuring

By Seye Olumide, Olaoluwa Ogungbe and Mary Abazuo
18 August 2017   |   4:19 am
Some prominent Nigerians have urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to urgently commence...

Olusegun Mimiko

Some prominent Nigerians have urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to urgently commence the process of restructuring the country before the 2019 general elections.

The leaders comprise immediate past Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd); a chieftain of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and former Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku.

They warned that failure to restructure Nigeria before the next general election might pose serious dangers to the oneness and growth of the country.

The submission was made at a colloquium organised by the Island Club, Lagos, titled: ‘Restructuring: Challenges, Implications and the Way forward.”

Mimiko said the agitation for restructuring should not be viewed as an attack on the North but an attempt to decentralise power.

The former governor, who noted that any country that could not protect or boast of security for its citizens and property is not worthy of being called a country, said: “We need to have state and local police to protect the lives of citizens and property. Let the states control their resources. We must restructure.”

Adebanjo advocated that the restructuring being clamoured for is that each region should have its own constitution to show autonomy.

He said: “Nigeria is running a unitary system of government; you cannot run Nigeria as a military system of government considering the ethnic groups. We have passed that stage. Don’t let anyone tell you anything about restructuring. It is not new.”

Maku said the country needed restructuring to offer Africa and Africans a great hope.

He lamented that the country is still going on that train handed over to it by the British and it may soon crash except it is restructured.

He insisted that we must agree on restructuring before 2019 election.

Others in attendance include the chairman of the club, Chief Olabanji Oladapo; former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Prof. John Ogu; Niger Delta activist, Ann-Kio Briggs; Dr Amos Akingba; Prof. Chigozie Ogu, who represented President of Ohanaeze-Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, Prof. Stephen Adebanji Akintoye and Mr. Yinka Odumakin.

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