The Governor of Kaduna, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has said that the north stands to gain the most from restructuring of the country.
El-Rufai made this known on Wednesday while delivering a keynote address at a colloquium organised to mark the 80th birthday anniversary of Chief Bisi Akande, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor berated some members of the Northern elite condemning restructuring, saying that they do not “appreciate that the north with its natural endowments stands to be the biggest beneficiary of restructuring.”
He said, “The coincidence of the mind-set of most of the military leaders being of northern origin must not be confused with that of the ordinary northerner.
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“I want to state here and now, that not only is the north ready, willing and able to embrace inclusive restructuring of our polity, but to add that those that speak loudly against it represent no one. Most of them have never held elective offices, and therefore do not appreciate that the north with its natural endowments stands to be the biggest beneficiary of restructuring.
“With all sense of responsibility, I believe some Nigerians have made a career and livelihood around restructuring without deep thought, or a clear plan or implementation strategy. For them, it is a tool to alienate rather than convert our compatriots to the nation-building imperative that restructuring offers.
“Rather than the hard graft of solving our governance problems, this group would rather grab headlines and mouth sound-bites at opportunities like this. You can almost sense that this people actually dread restructuring becoming public policy, having succeeded in living off a serious national imperative for so long. We must be mindful of this class of people.”
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