Clamour For Restructuring Must Be Given Serious Attention - Prof. Jerry Gana

The drumbeats for the restructuring of Nigeria have continued to sound louder by the day.
The strident calls are coming on the heels of ongoing wide consultations by the Presidency to douse ethnic tensions in the country and enhance national cohesion.

The latest call for the na­tion’s restructuring came on Thursday from prominent Nigerians under the aegis of the Middle Belt Conference (MBF).
After four hours of intensive deliberations in Abuja, the MBF members said that they were joining other Nigerians who have since initiated the campaign for the restructuring of the country.
The eminent leaders from the North Central Zone, which comprises Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau States, denounced the recent quit notice and threat issued to South Easterners (Igbos) living in the northern states to relocate to their states of origin.

In his welcome address at the meeting, the MBF Chair­man and former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, said that the clamour for restructuring must be given seri­ous attention, adding that reve­nue allocation should not be the main source of tension.
Reading the resolution of the meeting to newsmen, the MBF National Secretary, Mr. John Dara, said: “We are resolutely of the view that the current federal structure is unbalanced, unfair, over-centralised and therefore unstable.”
“Accordingly, we firmly sup­port the demand to restructure the federation, together with ap­propriate devolution of powers to the federating units, and a commensurate revenue alloca­tion formula.”
“We denounce, in the strongest possible terms, re­cent calls and threats to Nigeri­ans from the South-East living in the northern states of Nige­ria to move back to their areas of origin.”
“Being free, equal and le­gitimate citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, such calls on South Easterners are totally unconstitutional and unaccep­table. We urge the federal and state governments to take ef­fective steps to ensure the safe­ty and security of all Nigerians, wherever they may choose to reside”.
The group condemned the murderous activities of the Fulani herdsmen in the Mid­dle Belt and other parts of the country and called on the Fed­eral Government to step up se­curity measures to check the menace.
The leaders also urged the Federal Government to take appropriate and urgent steps to ensure the full implementa­tion of resolutions and recom­mendations of the 2014 Nation­al Conference.
They made it clear that, in the catastrophic event of other components of Nigeria insist­ing on separating, “we resolutely wish to remain and continue to be in the Federal Republic of Ni­geria, with our capital at Abuja.”
The group appealed to the Federal and Borno State govern­ments to rescue the remaining Chibok girls.
MBF also urged leaders of various communities and com­ponents to continue to work to­gether for peace, reconciliation, social justice and harmony, so as to build a free, peaceful, secure and democratic society, with a vibrant economy, and a bright future for all Nigerians.
The meeting was attend­ed by Senator Jonathan Zwin­gina, Gen. David Jemibewon, Prof. Jerry Gana, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, and others.