Elder statesmen: Pa Adebanjo, Chief Adeniyi, Uwazurike shade Buhari on restructuring

By Obinna Ezugwu

President Buhari

Prominent Nigerians: Afenifere Chieftain, Pa Ayo Adebanjo; veteran columnist and administrator, Chief Tola Adeniyi and Ohanaeze Chieftain, Chief Goddy Uwazurike have in their various chats with BusinessHallmark, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on restructuring, maintaining that the President was being pretentious by suggesting that process rather than structure was the country’s major problem.

President Buhari had in his early morning broadcast to the nation on New Year day, said he strongly believed that Nigeria’s existential issues were not necessarily due to any defects in its structure, but how the system is run.

“When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure,” the president said. “No human law or edifice is perfect,” he said.

But it is an assertion that has not gone down well with many.

Speaking in a chat with our correspondents, Pa Adebanjo maintained that structural defect was the challenge, not process, even as he accused the president of being dictatorial.

“If Buhari does not understand that structure is the problem of Nigeria, If he doesn’t accept restructuring, there will be no Nigeria. I tell him that,” Adebanjo said.

“If he loves Nigeria, and wants the country to remain united, he must do restructuring now. His rejection of that shows he does not know the people he is governing. All across the South and the Middle Belt, everyone is talking about restructuring and you are saying no, all because you have your own private agenda.

“It is because he has his private agenda that he is not in tune with the popular wish of the people which is unfortunate. Those who love Nigeria should persuade him and convince him to fall in line. The side he is taking will lead Nigeria to nowhere; it is an evidence that he wants the country divided.

“For a person like me, it only confirms my view that he is a dictator; a dictator and an unyielding conservative. If not, a leader listens to the people he governs. The noise about restructuring is loud enough for even a stubborn mind to change, but because he has a private agenda, he is stubbornly sticking to the status quo.

“He is talking about process, which process? How can you have a problem and you are looking for a short cut? It is a misfortune, and very unfortunate,” he concluded.

In his own words, Chief Adeniyi said it was not surprising that President Buhari opposed restructuring as according to him, he is the champion of Unitarianism who is dancing to the tune of the Fulani.

“I’m not dissapointed because he Buhari is a Fulani irredentist. He is actually the champion of Unitarianism in Nigeria. So, to expect him to sing a different song is just like asking for the moon to fall to the ground,” Adeniyi said.

“Buhari cannot change, he is dancing to the tune of his Fulani masters and he is also acting the Fulani script on Nigeria. As far as he is concerned, Nigeria is their fiefdom and should be treated as such. There is no way Buhari can support restructuring.”

Uwazurike, president emeritus of Igbo think tank group, Aka Ikenga, in his own remarks, asked those who are still opposing restructuring to “grow up” as it was childish to keep doing so.

“I will tell them just grow up. There is no need being amateurish when you have become a professional. There is no need becoming childish when you are already an adult,” he said.

“An adult mind enables you to think and a childish mind remains childish. When I tell them to grow up, I tell them to obey the law of nature. Restructuring is a natural thing in life,” he concluded.