The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has said that the Nigerian state as presently configured has failed, especially in the area of security, making the calls for restructuring appropriate.
The group, therefore, urged those calling for the restructuring of the federation not to back down.
Recall that the presidency recently flayed advocates of restructuring, describing the calls as “recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country” and vowing not to succumb to their “threats” and “pressure”.
This was after General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye urged President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure the country “as soon as possible” or risk its break up.
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In a Tuesday appearance on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television program, NEF spokesperson, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said restructuring was necessary to address many unresolved issues in the polity.
He said, “The two basic functions of the state is to secure citizens and provide for their welfare. Now, the Nigerian state is failing in both camps. So, restructuring for us means addressing those failures and identifying ideas, suggestions, and changes that can actually fit into the process of improving them.
“Policing is a fundamental issue. Here in the north where I come from, you could spend three days with bandits ravaging communities and you will not see a single policeman. Something is wrong with the way the country is structured to provide security for citizens. So, we need to revisit some of these issues.”
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Baba-Ahmed also called for revisiting the constitution to address salient issues including resource allocation.
“We need to look at our constitution, look at the way it provides for the Nigerian state, the federating units, allocate responsibilities in power, the works of vital institutions, or the failure of vital institutions to work and how we can improve them.
“When we make demands for the restructuring of the country, we are not necessarily saying that the government is deliberately causing the problems – they are cumulative issues, matters that should have been addressed a long time ago but they were not addressed. Nations must accept to revisit how they live.
“Nigerians have a right to ask for changes, for amendment, for improvement in the manner in which we live. There is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is for the government to specifically say we don’t want to hear anything about restructuring.
“Right now, no one will dispute that the federal government carries too many responsibilities most of which it doesn’t discharge, has too many resources and is not well run. It has become a focus of intense competition. The type of competition that makes the political system unstable. Everybody wants the Presidency. Everybody wants to go to Abuja. Abuja is everything. This is wrong,” NEF said.
Baba-Ahmed called for revisiting the reports of past national conferences with a view to implementing their recommendations.
“We believe that Nigerians should never (be) tired about demanding that their country must be made to work. If the government is not going to do it on its own, it needs assistance. If it needs some pressure, we believe we can provide that pressure,”