By Kola Amzat

On September  8, 2017, prominent Yoruba leaders rose from their symbolic conference tagged Ibadan declaration with a 16-point resolution which has as its centerpiece-A return to 1960 and 1963 constitutions both of which affirmed regional structure.

restructuring

Also, on Sept 23 at the Annual Dinner of King’s College Old Boys Association in Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu delivered a paper that cuts across politics, economic and other aspects of our national life but with greater emphasis on the contemporary discourse in our nation today – restructuring. The legendary political strategist posited that Nigeria can’t become a better nation with undue concentration of power at the federal level.

According to him, the legacy of decades of undemocratic rule has arrogated too much power and resources to the federal government at the expense of state governments. He submitted further that the federal government is unnecessarily overburdened by humongous 68 items on the exclusive list and therefore advocated that items like prison, police, registration of business, incorporation of business, stamp duties, traffic on federal truck roads, trade, commerce etc. should be transferred to the residual list.

Contributing to the restructuring discourse, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai also affirmed his support for the need for Nigeria to return to 1963 constitution, calling all Nigerians to join the train of restructuring. Professor Ango Abdullahi, a prominent voice in the North and, in fact, spokesman of Northern Elders Forum also affirmed that Nigeria would continue to be at the cross roads unless we return to 1960 and 1963 constitutions.

From the Niger Delta came the voice of Edwin Clark, who, besides advocating for restructuring, also labelled those who are claiming ignorance of restructuring as mischief makers. And of course, we can’t over emphasize the consistent clamor of Ohanaeze Ndigbo leaders for restructuring, with the leaders of the group, particularly Chief Nnia Nwodo, Chekwas Okorie, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, etc affirming that restructuring will surely quell MASSOB and IPOB agitations.

So, who are we waiting for? All the voices mentioned represent each major ethnic nationality in our nation. They are the major stakeholders in Nigerian project. They are the authentic leaders of all the ethnic groups. Without their tacit endorsement and approval, most of the federal parliamentarians would not be there.

It’s against this backdrop that i vehemently disagree with President Muhammadu Buhari, who, in his Oct 01 broadcast to the nation, said the debate on restructuring should be within the National Assembly, even though he acknowledged that calls for restructuring are in order. The fact remains that there is no way the nation can place debate of all this important discourse entirely at the National Assembly particularly considering who they are.

This is a clarion call to Buhari to swiftly move like the man of history, by  instituting a structure that would ensure balance in Nigeria. This is the only way to go and the time is now!