Restructuring: Injustice Makes Nigeria’s Unity Impossible – Saraki
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki has blamed growing agitations for restructuring on the government’s failure to deliver good governance and meet the expectations of the Nigerian masses.
He said it is also impossible for the people to be happy staying together in a country where only one part is being developed to the neglect of other constituent parts.
Speaking with journalists during an Independence Day luncheon to commemorate the 61st Independence anniversary in Abuja, Senator Saraki said in such disturbing circumstances, it is difficult hoping that Nigeria would remain as one united country and in peace.
The former Governor of Kwara State, who expressed worries over the lingering restructuring demands by various groups and individuals, however urged Nigerians to rather channeled their energy towards better governance by their leaders at all levels.
He said the loud noise about restructuring notwithstanding, “I think we need to first see that we are governed better. There are things we need to do and we need to see that there is fairness and equity in how we are governed and how the resources of Nigeria are distributed.
“I think that the government not being able to deliver to the people as regards what their values and expectations are, has made us start looking inward to see that there is something wrong structurally… That’s why you hear people talk about maybe we should give more powers to the states; more powers to the regions.
According to him, those in government must ensure equity in development for all sections of the country, insisting that Nigerians should be more concerned with getting the best out of the government rather than beating the drums of separation and secession in the name of restructuring.
“We also need to ensure that there is development in every part of the country. You can’t be seeing development in one part of the country and believe that we will stay as one, it is not possible. In some parts of the world, there are incentives to see investment in places where there is no investment.”
“My view is that we must ensure that we provide the most viable ways to govern at all levels. This includes making our state more viable…,” Saraki said.
The former number three man said; “We are saying this because we have seen a failure at the center. I think we need to address what is wrong with our country. The major issue has to do with the opportunity for all of us. I call it the democratization of opportunity.
“Today a lot of people do not have a sense of belonging. They do not believe that the opportunities are fair to all. We need to go back to that. We must have an environment that enables all of us to believe we have a fair chance of getting to where we want to get to and in doing that we have to be sure some of us do not believe that we are being held back.”
On the way forward, Senator Saraki said the time has come for States and local governments to take visionary steps in making themselves viable, especially their ability and capacity to generate revenue for sustainable development in their respective domains.
For him; “You only have internally generated revenue when there is activity. You cannot generate from zero activity. That is why we have the VAT problem. Because the places where there is commercial activity are limited.
“Some states believe it is their revenue that is being shared by other states …the fact is, we need to make every state viable. It is possible to make every state viable if you have policies that encourage a particular investment in different sectors…I believe it’s doable but we need to have the capacity to understand what the situation is.”
