Restructuring in North’s economic interest, opposing it is ignorance – Atiku Abubakar

OBINNA EZUGWU

Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has reiterated his call for restructuring of the country, noting that those opposing the clamour were being disingenuous.

Atiku who made this point in his address at the launch of the book, In the Belly of Vultures, written by Chief Tola Adeniyi in Lagos Thursday, warned that the country was in serious crisis which according to him, would need an overhaul of the current structure to salvage.

The Waziri of Adamawa raised four disclaimers on the restructuring debate, through a speech presented on his behalf by Professor Maxwell Gidado, pointing out that while it will not solve all the problems of the country, it remained very critical as according to him, the issues of poor leadership and corruption were as a result of faulty structure.

“In times of crisis, leaders are supposed to use platforms such as this to to weigh in on important national issues,” he said.

“Let me restrict my remarks to a few disclaimers about the restructuring of our federation. As many of you know, I have been a very strong advocate for the restructuring of our federation to make it better; to make it more productive; to make it more united and therefore, to make it stronger.

“The first disclaimer is that it is not going to solve all of Nigeria’s challenges, though it will help with some very important ones. I say this because some of those arguing against restructuring keep saying that it is not our main problem.

“Some say it is leadership that we lack. Others say it is corruption that we should focus on. My position is that all are important and should be addressed, but to pretend that the critical issue thrown up by the current deformed structure of our federation will disappear as soon as we have good leadership or tackle corruption is to miss the point. In fact, it is disingenuous,” he noted.

He pointed out that the current structure facilitates corruption.

“Our current structure facilitates corruption and makes it difficult for the kind of leadership being clamoured for to emerge. This is a structure that emerged at the time of military rule and and sustained by the oil economy. Some of the enduring features of that oil economy has been excessive centralisation, corruption, oil dependency and low productivity.

“When we restructure, we will be forced to pay greater attention to production rather than rent seeking. We will improve security with a decentralized police force and therefore improve the environment for investment and job creation.

“And the federating units will have greater autonomy to decide on their priorities and peculiar challenges. So, restructuring is critical for us, although it is not a magic wand that will solve all our problems.”

The second disclaimer, he said was that restructuring is not a sectional agenda.

“Restructuring is not a sectional thing or a sectional demand,” he emphasised. “And it will not benefit only a section of the country and hurt others. It will benefit the whole country. Those who fear that it is designed to hurt them to the benefit of others are grossly mistaken.

“A country improving its economy is like an organism, thus, what affects one part affects other parts because the country is a whole.

“The existing structure prohibits our progress as a nation, irrespective of what certain sections think. Similarly, restructuring, if properly done, will benefit the whole nation. Whatever the short term inconveniences to a section.”

In his third disclaimer, he noted: “The pursuit of restructuring for purely political reasons misses the point. While the strengthening of national unity is important, it is also critical for our economic development and well-being, which in turn, is also important for political peace.

“Our current structure, which is based on oil rent is vulnerable because oil has probably reached its peak as the chief energy source for the world’s economy.”

He warned that with many industrialised nations giving time lines with regards to when they would suspend the manufacture of oil powered cars, oil is a dying resource and according to him, it is in the North’s interest to stop fighting for a dying resource.

“The good news for the North is that a restructured Nigeria is in the North’s long term for economic interest. We should not be fighting for a bigger share of what is a disappearing resource. It amounts to fighting for a bigger share of the past and not the future.”

Concluding with his fourth disclaimer, he warned against the vilification of those who are opposed to restructuring, noting that restructuring could only be achieved through dialogue.