"Northern Nigeria doesn't like to hear restructuring; we must listen"

A former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, says restructuring cannot work until all the nation’s component parts agree.

He stated that the North is jittery about supporting restructuring because of the fear it would lead to Nigeria’s breakup.

The human rights lawyer however said that restructuring was necessary to rebrand the country.

Agbakoba explained that, in his idea of restructuring, the centre must be weakened so that the states and local governments can have more authority to develop the nation from the ground up.

The senior lawyer stated these in an interview published by Saturday Sun.

He said, “I don’t like the word, ‘restructuring’, which means we must get everybody to agree. Whether we like it or not, the Northern Nigeria doesn’t like to hear restructuring. If they don’t like it, we must listen to why they don’t like it. They feel like restructuring means breaking up Nigeria, whether that is right or wrong, we must do the needful because what we are really looking at is how to devolve power from the centre; how to make the centre weaker so that states and the local government can have more authority.

“I will not press the word, ‘restructuring’, rather the lesson we should learn from this big problem that has faced us is that the entire Nigeria state must be alive and responsible. The federal government can’t do it all, it must surrender some of the powers it exercises to the states in the matter of Health, Education, Agriculture, etc to rebalance the federation. If that is what restructuring means, well and good, but all I know is that Nigeria’s political process endows too much power in the centre and so the components at the bottom of the pyramid have no value, except go to Abuja every month to collect money.

“If we want value to be added to all 36 states and the 774 local governments, the issue of Nigeria will be rebalanced is necessary, whether it is called restructuring or devolution of powers is not the point, the point is that we must rebalance; we must redistribute powers so that everyone is necessary. If your strength is industry, do it; if it is education do it; if agriculture do it; whatever strength you have in your area, do. Like the old days of groundnut pyramid, cocoa pyramid, palm oil, if we can get it back, Nigeria will be a great nation.”