The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has advised Nigerians not to relent in their call for restructuring from the present government.
The Forum agreed that that the Nigerian state has failed, especially in the area of security, adding that there was the need to look at the structure of the country in providing security for the people.
The spokesperson of the forum, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, while speaking on Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, said the country must be restructured to address the fundamental issues that need to have been addressed since Nigeria gained its independence.
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.”
Baba-Ahmed stressed that the Nigerian constitution must be revised to “deal with issues that divide Nigerians rather than unite them.”
He added, “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.”
The spokesperson goes further that “many conferences whose recommendations have not been implemented need to be implemented.”
He then concluded, “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.”
